


Setting the Board

by nevermind_sanity



Series: Sanity's Adventures through Destiny 2 [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, I have a lot of ocs and a huge story for them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 18:35:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 43,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16728699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevermind_sanity/pseuds/nevermind_sanity
Summary: Before the Red War made them famous, these people had stories of their own.They all have a past, some more haunting than othersThey all somehow, slowly, came together.(These stories were originally posted on Tumblr and are now being posted here on Ao3. They are a year old at the most at this point.)





	1. The Thorn: Part 1

    It started as simple curiosity. Things like these always do. Warlocks have a tendency for curiosity, seeking out answers to age old questions in the universe. There were even some that killed themselves over and over to try to learn the secrets of death.

    This one did not start out quite as grim. It started off as a hand canon, depleted and drained. It was one that Cid had happened to come across in his travels and pick up. The strange design was unique, nothing like it had been seen before, and naturally he grew curious. It seemed like something made by The Hive, but was also unique in its own way. Upon having it examined, no one knew what exactly it was, how it worked, or really the point of it. Banshee, of all people, was the one to figure it out. He noticed that it was charged with something when he started to examine it with his more trained gunsmith eyes.

    Odd, Cid thought. He decided to carry it around for a while, just to see if he could find anything else on the strange weapon. It wasn’t like there was much else to do other than fire team strikes and what not, and of course, the crucible. Research wise he didn’t have anything really, so why not have this as his pet project? Something to research in his down time sounded like fun.

   At the time, he was a Voidwalker, calmly wading through its power and drawing them out when need be. He was also a fan of the crucible. Win or lose he would enjoy himself with his friends training against other guardians in the games with Lord Shaxx’s voice booming over the chaos. He was a man that wasn’t afraid of the dark, who wasn’t afraid to face any sort of darkness or enemy standing in his way.

   Perhaps that fear would’ve been helpful to prevent the hell he would come face to face with.

   He defeated an entire enemy team with an orb made of the void in the last few seconds, winning his team the game. Proud he was of course, but as Shaxx praised the team Charon, his Ghost, came out of hiding to tell him something was odd in Transmat. As soon as he had a moment to himself later in the library, he examined the weapon to find it now quietly giving off a bit of energy. Cid tilted his head a bit, thinking about what this could be. Was it charging somehow?

    The more he participated in the crucible, the more he noticed it. Every time he would wipe out someone with the powers of the Void, it would begin to charge and hum with more energy, as if it was responding to his power. Perhaps the fact it was responding to the Void of all things should’ve been warning enough. The fact that it only responded when he killed should’ve been enough to make him throw the gun out the window and never want to see it again.

    But he was curious. The same urge to simply know why consumed him like many other warlocks, and drove him onwards.

    A week later after a match he came to the library. Charon was right beside his head and floated to a nearby table to transmat the strange weapon onto it. As Cid placed a metallic finger over the spines of the books to help him read the faded words, he didn’t notice the gun was now glowing a strange purple color. All he would hear was the sound of the gun rattling before hitting the floor. hitting the floor. He stopped, paused, turned around and stared at the weapon along with Charon who was eyeing it nervously. Already heads were starting to poke out from between the shelves, curious to the commotion.

    “I… I didn’t do that.” Charon timidly peeped, “I… I think IT did that. Whatever this is.”

    Cid walked closer, against his better judgement to examine it further. As he knelt down he could hear something. It was faint, soft, quiet, beautiful, calling out to him. The familiar pulse of the Void tempted his hand.  _I’m your friend._ It said.  _I can help you if you let me._

    “Cid, I don’t think we should keep studying this.” Charon piped up, “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this Cid, ever since you picked it up.”

    “It looks evil sure, but what’s the worst that can happen?”

    “Should I list in chronological order or alphabetical order?”

    “Charon.”

    “Seriously though, if it can rattle and fall to the floor all by itself maybe we should let someone else look at it with us, at the very least. Can you agree to that?”

    Cid nodded, “Alright, if it’ll make you feel better. Let’s take this to Ikora then.”

    That would be his first mistake: thinking that it was safe to handle to even carry it there. His next would be to grab the handle of the gun. That sealed his fate, and the fate of many other people.

   The effect was almost instantaneous. His vision blurred, his chest felt like it was being shocked from a Stormcaller as it send sparks through his arm. He wouldn’t see the people coming to him as he started screaming at the top of his lungs from sheer pain and the sudden fear that gripped onto his being, locking him further into place. He couldn’t hear his own ghost screeching for someone to help him over the sound of his own screams and the voice that suddenly was much, much louder.

    “TEMPTED BY CURIOUSITY HM? WELL, IT WORKS OUT VERY WELL FOR ME MY DEAR. I’VE BEEN CRAVING THE LIGHT FOR A WHILE NOW…”

    “HELP! HELP! SOME ONE GET IKORA! HELP CID! CID! TRY TO LET GO OF IT!” Charon yelled, the library going up in a tizzy with guardians panicking.

    Cid could feel his body growing weaker by the second. His free hand was the only thing keeping him from face planting into the carpet. The voice boomed on in his head, filling it and drowning out his own screams. As much as he tried, he found himself unable to take his hand off the gun to get this to stop. The vision grew darker, his arms weaker, until he slowly fell down into nothing.

    Falling…

_Falling…_

_**Falling……**_

* * * *

As first, it’s darkness.

    There was nothing here, no ghost, no person, no sound,  _nothing_. Which way was up, which way was down, left, right, all of that he was unsure of. Was this real? Was this some sort of nightmare? It had to be. This couldn’t be happening, right? It couldn’t be. This had to be his mind playing tricks on him, scaring him from researching that gun further.

    Right, if this was just a dream, then he should be waking up any time soon. Right, no need to panic. He would soon be waking up to the sound of his ghost yelling at him to get up for the day and things would carry on like normal. It had to because this wasn’t real, and if it was real, then where  _the_   _bloody hell was this and what the fuck happened?_

    Stop it, he told himself. Stop panicking.  If this is a dream, and he was aware this was a dream then that meant he could control it to some extent. He could make this a lucid dream and get himself out of this emptiness. He raised his hand to summon forth the light of the Void, like he had done so many times before, only to be met with nothing. He didn’t even feel like there was any reserve in the light he tried to summon, which was impossible as far as he knew. He tried to take a step forward and he wasn’t even sure if he was walking or moving forward. He tried to summon his ghost, nothing appeared.

    This was the point where he could feel a tremble in his hands, a growing sense of dread twisting whatever circuitry was down in his abdomen. The dream theory wasn’t working out so far it seemed. Thinking back to the last moments, that voice that booming in his head, was it possible that…?

    “Hello?” he called, “Anyone?”

   At first there was no answer. He called out again, again, over, and over. Nothing. He would try to run when he didn’t even know if he was going any direction, calling out for someone,  _anyone_ , to answer him.

    Something did after a while, but it wasn’t comforting. A low deep voice, the same voice that he heard before, was laughing. He immediately turned towards what he thought could be the source and started to run towards it. At least this way there was something, even if sinister. There was something to tell him that he was moving forward, that there was something else there.

    “Stop.” It said. He suddenly felt his legs lock up, causing him to fall forward, landing on his face. At least now it was confirmed there was a ground of sorts, despite it being as black as everything else.

    “Get up.” It said. His hands responded by pushing himself up and his legs automatically helping him up the rest of the way.

    “What the… who the fuck are you?!” Cid shouted into the nothingness around him.

    “Run.” It said. He suddenly broke out into a run, “Stop.” He skid to a stop, “Kneel.” It said, and his body responded with a kneel, bowing to the entity that he couldn’t see. He would try to fight back this automatic response, but it was met with stiff resistance.

    “You see the sort of situation you’re in? You couldn’t leave well enough alone, just like the man who came to me and created this weapon.”

    “Who are you?” he asked again, grit in his voice this time.

    “That doesn’t really matter. What I should do is thank you. It’s been so long since I’ve had a host, at least one competent enough to know how to recharge the weapon. Even better, it’s a host that cannot die.”

    “So what, you’re some sort of…. Hive possessing me? Is that it?” he shouted, wanting to get out of the kneeling position and scream at her, with no luck.

    “In a word, yes. I’m sorry my dear, but you couldn’t leave well enough alone. So now here you are, paying the price. I’d watch my tone if I were you. We’re going to be spending a long time together. A very, long time…”

    “You…! What are you doing out there?” he growled the last sentence out. There had to be a way out of this. There had to, there had to, there had to….

    “Look at me.” She commanded, and his head cricked up. Before him stood a Hive Wizard, her maw stretched out in terrible grin. He felt a chill down his spine as she reached down with a claw and scratched beneath his chin.

    “Do you really want to know?” she asked. He stared up at her, his eyes showing defiance despite the fear that clung to his body. She waved her free hand behind her, a cloud forming and painting a visual. She moved out of the way, simply telling him to watch.

    He could see the gun, and see his own hands holding it. He could see he was somewhere in the city, walking through the alleys. He would stop, turn, see a man just walking down the street. Just an ordinary man, suitcase in hand, no ghost, just walking home…

_No… no don’t tell me…_

    He watched himself take aim without hesitation at the innocent man. The man would look up, try to let out a sound before the gun would put a bullet in his brain. As Cid stared on in horror, the wizard beside him started to laugh.

     “Oh I’ve been waiting for this! Too long I’ve gone without this sort of fun! Thank you for letting me have it! What was your ghost calling you? Cid? Pathetic little thing wouldn’t stop crying out for someone to save you from yourself. Good thing it’s bonded to you, so if I get one, I get the other….”

    “He’s not pathetic you fucking witch.” Cid snarled at her. He didn’t care how much she beat down on him, but Charon didn’t deserve to be humiliated. However, what she said afterwards did worry him. Was ghost like this now too? Was he in a sea of nothing being tormented by this witch?

    “Interesting of you to say. Too bad that tongue won’t get you far here. In case you haven’t noticed, this is my playground now. You play by my rules, and my rules say you listen to whatever I say. So now I say…”

    There was a pause, enough for Cid’s focus to be back on the screen. He let out a sharp gasp seeing the families at this park staring at him, holding his weapon out to shoot them. He knew where this was going.

    “What was the old saying? Kill them all and let God sort them out? Don’t know where he got that saying from, but fitting for this situation.” She said with a smile and snapped her fingers.

    Screams, gunshots, all of this echoed in his ears and burned into his brain. He started to yell, holler, scream for her to stop this madness. He watched the blood spill onto the streets, into the gutters, and all the while she laughed, and laughed, and laughed…

    “ENNNNNJOY THE SHOW CID! ONCE THIS IS OVER YOU’RE FREE TO WANDER, BUT ONCE I START AGAIN, I EXPECT YOU HERE WITH ME TO ENJOY THIS!” she shrieked, full of laughter, watching the EXO scream, shake, bellow out to give mercy to these people. All of it fuelled her cruel addiction. All of it spurred her on.

    Cid curled his fingers into his cloak, begging silently for this to be a dream, some sort of horrible prank and he would wake up tomorrow like nothing happened.

    But that of course, was far too kind.

* * * *

    He didn’t know how long he dragged himself through here.

    Hours, days, weeks, months, he had no sense of how long it had been. Repeatedly trying over and over to resist the witch’s magic, over and over watching him kill innocents, over and over pleading with the traveler to tell him that none of this was real, over and over feeling himself crushed when he knew it was real, it didn’t stop. He would wander the sea of nothingness, not sure if there was even a destination because there was nothing else to do when she was away.

    All he knew for sure was this: he was murdering innocent people on the outside, and couldn’t get himself to stop. The last few times he’s seen himself fight other Guardians trying to stop him with no avail. He heard them say things such as ‘Traveler he really is possessed! Look at how he’s twitching!’ and ‘Look at the darkness in his hand, that’s Hive magic! We need to get rid of that thing!’ Each time they tried though, someone hesitate and got their brains blown out by this gun. The Wizard would even shoot at ghosts, who thankfully were uninjured, so far.

    It was almost enough that it made him want to sit down and give up right there. He could feel a crushing weight in his very soul knowing what he was doing to these people and how helpless he felt. As his fingers dug into the cloth of his clothing, he felt that odd urge for tears to be leaking out of his eyes, even though he wasn’t able to do that. He struggled to keep his feet moving forward, knowing that once he stopped walking he might not be able to start again. Really it was only through sheer force of will and hatred for that witch he did not give up walking. He did not give up trying to break free every time she said to kneel.

    It was however, taking its toll. He felt cold when there was nothing. At times it almost seemed like it was closing in even though there was nothing there. He couldn’t think about anything other than trying to leave this purgatory or dwelling on the fact he was killing people. At first it hurt as if someone put a flame to his body and began to burn him alive, but now it was numbed between the times he witnessed her killing more things. The ache was there in his heart, a needle that he couldn’t pull out, but he couldn’t feel much more than that in this endless void.

    He was also still no closer to discovering how to get himself out of this mess.

    “Kneel.” Her voice called out. He tried to resist, but his body was tired, and after only a couple of seconds he was on all fours, looking down at the black floor. He could hear her materializing in front of him, surely wearing that grin he loathed with his entire being.

    “Look up.” She commanded, and his head snapped up to meet her gaze, “Seem like we’ve got a special guest this time Cid. I think you know these people.”

    Again she weaves the vision and stepped aside. He could feel his heart sink. Standing in front of him, weapons drawn and ready, powers on standby, were the Vanguard. They all looked at him as an enemy now instead of a friend who helped them take down so many opponents. Somehow that stung even more that he was going to be fighting them instead of strangers.

    “The Vanguard vs The Thorn. I look forward to this.” The witch gave a quiet chortle.

    “You sure this is going to work Ikora?” Cayde asked, his voice devoid of his usual humour.

    “No, but we have to try. If this doesn’t work… we’ll… have to put him down…” He could see Ikora biting her lower lip after her sentence.

    “We’ll try not to resort to that. Guardian, if you can hear me in there, I’m sorry.” Zavala calmly told him.

 _Don’t be sorry._  He wanted to say.  _Please don’t hesitate like the rest. Please put me in the ground if you have to. Make it stop. I don’t want to do this anymore._

    But none of that would come out. Instead he would watch The Thorn fire off at them. The three of them split off, going different directions. He could see them all rushing about and firing at him. It was hard to tell what they were trying to achieve, with them bouncing all about (especially Cayde) but somehow Cid had the sneaking suspicion there was a method behind this.

    The witch clearly didn’t, because she was cackling beside him.

    “WHAT FOOLS! HAHAHAHA! THIS IS THE MIGHTY VANGUARD? SCATTERED ABOUT LIKE COWARDS? LET’S SEE IF I CAN HIT ONE THEIR GHOSTS, LET THEM KNOW THEIR PLACE!”

    The Thorn fired off like mad, shooting at the moving targets with no avail. Cid noticed after a moment that one by one they ran off somewhere. Naturally, the witch felt inclined to chase after them, calling them cowards, running through the streets of the city that had been cleared out to stop her murderous rampage.

   Around the corner, the Witch made him stop. None of them were there. They were just there a moment ago, were they not?

    They turned around, and Cid wouldn’t even get a chance to process whose face he saw before he felt a shock straight to his chest. He screamed out in pain, but it was nothing like the witch who started to shriek after being caught off guard.

   Another feeling now, a burning sensation in his left arm spreading up to his shoulder painfully and quickly took his mind off the shock to his chest. The feeling then started in his right arm, spreading upwards. Now there was a feeling in his legs, a calm energy that made them stop aching from resisting those commands. The more he knelt there, feeling those sensations, the more that he felt better. The pain was real, yes, but it was something he could cling onto. He could still feel what was happening to his body.

    It was then he finally realized he wasn’t looking at the vision anymore. He was staring at his hands now, glowing with a fire he’d not seen in so long. He could see sparks coming out of his chest as well, and looking further down he saw the calm glow of the void. The sight made him feel nauseous, and he made himself look at his arms again. It was a painful fire, but oddly comforting in its light.

    He tried to move and realized that he could now, with his own free will. Perhaps this pain severed her connection to him. But for how long? How long did he have to act before she would start to pull the strings again?

    He stood up, his golden eyes staring at the witch who was still reeling. He could feel something in his chest now looking at her. The sparks diminished and the void seeped back, the fire started to burn hotter and brighter, more painfully. The pain felt good, he embraced it over the nothingness and numbness he felt before. It made him feel  _alive_ again.

    Hatred, this is what he felt. A seething, frothing rage was what was coming over him. He hated her. He hated what she had done to him, to so many other people. He hated her with a bright burning passion that spread throughout his entire body, killing off the sparks and the void magic from earlier. He was glowing now, fire burning off his body in a bright inferno. He had never been one for passionate revenge sort of thing, but this was an exception. This witch deserved every ounce of pain he felt now, and far, far more. There would be retribution for the people she killed.

    The flames didn’t hurt anymore. They just spurred him on.

    The witch finally got her bearings. She looked around for her captive only to find him right up in her face, grasping for her throat. His hands burned her skin, smoke even started to rise each time he made contact.  As she tried to pry his hands off of her, she wondered if this was some sort of madness of the light. He should be melting, dying, and where on earth did this come from? Was this the Vanguard’s plan all along?

   “STOP! KNEEL! KNEEL DAMN IT!”

   There was no kneeling. There was something in that man’s eyes, a drive to kill her no matter the cost. Smoke was rising up from where he grabbed her arm, the skin turning charred black, making the witch screech, finally giving the man a swift kick and shoving him off. She floated upwards, trying to prepare a shield before he could get at her again.

   Then, something stopped her. She didn’t know up to till her last moments why she didn’t finish her shield. Maybe it was because she knew she wouldn’t win this one. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to fight him anymore.

    Or maybe she found her breath being taken away when the man summoned forth, for the first time in his life, The Dawnblade. Wings of fire stretched out from his back, spreading for the first time in far too long. In his hand the fabled sword burned with an intensity not seen in ages. The fire that consumed his body left it now and instead lit the world around them in a fiery inferno. Walls of fire burned around them, dancing to the beat of her imminent demise.

   He was (there was no other way she could describe it) beautiful. From the ashes she burned him down to, he rose up again. He was forever changed, there was no doubt about that. He would spend the next year or so recovering from this, and would never again use the Void, but in that moment he was the most majestic being she had ever laid eyes on.

    It wouldn’t have mattered whether or not she finished the shield. Even if she did, she would not have been able to survive his final assault. His wings spread outwards, he leaped into the air, sailing towards her with no hesitation in those eyes, barring the sword and swinging it back. In one swift motion, it cut straight through her body which was burned to ash by the fires, her screams filling the air until her lungs were added to the ashes

    Only a moment after the deed was done, he could feel himself quickly burning out. The fire died down to reveal nothingness again, and he simply fell over. He was smiling though, even as he felt himself fade away.

    It was worth it to watch her burn.

* * * *

    Days later, he would wake up again in a hospital bed.

    It was strange to open his eyes and to see something. The light poured in from the window beside him, making the white room much more comforting and friendly after the darkness he had stumbled through for so long. He lifted up his right hand to see someone was in the midst of rebuilding it. Did he lose it after he triumphed over the Thorn?

    “Cid?” he heard a voice say. He immediately looked over to the sound coming from his backpack that had been laying against the far wall. Floating up from it, a very familiar and welcomed friend came out, and flew over as fast as it could when it saw him.

   “Cid! You’re awake! I thought we’d lost you for a while there!”

    Wordlessly Cid reached up to hold onto Charon and bring him close to him. He was smiling, happy, relieved that his best friend was alright despite everything.

    “Oh I’m so happy to see you!” Charon happily accepted the hug. “Never again ok? That was the scariest thing ever. It was so dark, and I couldn’t see anything…”

     Cid felt his heart sink hearing that. Charon had also been lost in the darkness, which was what that witch meant when she said she got both. At least he hadn’t gone through that hell of watching people be killed and…

    “Charon…” he started. The little bot could feel the sudden change of mood and Cid gripping on a little tighter, “Please… please tell me this was all a bad dream.”

    “I… I don’t… why do you ask?” Charon was almost afraid to know the answer.

    “If it was real… we killed a lot of people…”

    “Guardian.” Someone else called. The voice made him snap to attention. Instinctively he held his ghost away from the approaching woman before realizing it was just Ikora. Somehow though that didn’t make him feel any safer, even though he knew Ikora wouldn’t hurt him or his ghost.

    She calmly walked up to him, taking a seat in a nearby chair, “How do you feel Cid?” she asked with a small smile, trying to be friendly. It didn’t ease the sense of anxiety gnawing away at his belly.

   “…Ikora,” he slowly let Charon go, forcing his hands to go into his lap, “Please… please tell me this was all some sort of sick joke. I didn’t… I didn’t really…”

   Her lips pressed into a thin line and her gaze fell to the floor for a moment. That was enough of an answer for Cid. He felt his shoulders sinking as it started to really hit him what happened.

   “I’m sorry Cid.” She finally said, looking back up at him, “But… it was real. I don’t know what was happening in your head during all this, but if you mean that you were possessed by Hive magic, then yes, it did happen.”

   “All those people…” he breathed out, staring at his hands and they curled into the sheets.

   “It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known this would happen, and you weren’t the one that killed them. The Hive are the culprits.”

   “I should’ve known. I shouldn’t have picked it up. I should’ve destroyed it when I saw…”

    Ikora couldn’t say much to comfort him. There wasn’t much to do except give support in any way that the Tower could. Even then, it was going to be a long road to recovery. Even still, he wasn’t ever going to be the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On Xyer's name.
> 
> Xyer is supposed to be Xyor. That is the name of the Hive Wizard who contributed to the Thorn. By the time I realized my mistake, Xyer had pretty much stuck.


	2. The Thorn Part 2

    The first two weeks were hell.

    He didn’t leave his room unless it was absolutely necessary. He would make people talk to him through the door, not wanting them anywhere near him. Even though he was free, the mere thought of someone being close to him made him sick. It made him think of all the ways he could accidentally kill them, or hurt them. The nightmares where the witch made him do awful things to people didn’t help this new found anxiety.

    He couldn’t turn the lights off. All of them had to be on at all hours. If he turned even one off he felt like it was too dark and turned it back on again. Even then when the night came around he would close his window so he didn’t have to look at the darkness outside. He would sit on his bed, staring at something, reminding himself that he was safe. So long as he stayed in here, everyone around him would be safe. He would be safe so long as the lights were on. He was safe so long as he never saw that gun again.

    The room slowly turned into a disaster. His clothes were strewn on the floor, his blankets wherever he often sat down and wrapped himself up in them. The snacks he had hidden in his room were eaten and the wrappers strewn around without a care. The TV was only playing old Golden Age games such as Mario, just as something to do. He couldn’t play anything with any violence over the cartoonish ones. Even then he felt nothing as he played. It was just a distraction, a way to stave off sleep so he didn’t have to face those awful nightmares again.

    Charon tried to talk to him. He tried to cheer him up with jokes and happier stories, but Cid didn’t seem to respond to any of this. He stared blankly at a wall or at his game. Charon tried to nudge him, only to be pushed away. He would try to talk to him, to get no response.

    “Go away.” He one day mumbled, “You shouldn’t be near me.”

    “No! I’m not going away! Not while you’re like this!”

    “I said go away.”

     “No Cid! I’m staying with you!”

     Suddenly the man whirled around from his game, “Why? Why the fuck not?! I didn’t listen to you and you ended up wandering in the dark for a week! I dragged you into this! You were used to help kill people!”

     “Because it’s not your fault Cid! I know it’s not! Despite everything I’m not going to leave you!”

    There was no way, not when Cid needed him the most. Cid let out low growl and turned to the TV again, not wanting to argue anymore. He felt bad enough yelling at his ghost. He supposed feeling bad was better than the numbness he felt now, but he didn’t want to feel that either…

    The next two weeks were only marginally better.

    Through the door a lady named Annabelle had been patiently trying to talk to him. She was some sort of therapist the Vanguard had sent to try and talk to him when their attempts and Cid’s friends attempts failed. She would knock on the door politely and tell him it was her, and ask to come in. She was denied every time. She then would ask what he was doing, suggesting tiny things for him to do. Simple, small things, that were normal to do but was hard for him to do. Charon would encourage him to do these things, like pick up that nice shirt and throw it in the basket instead of the floor. Or something like: pick up that wrapper and put it in the little wastebasket.

    She would then ask him to tell her little things: things about his friends, things that he enjoyed. She found out he loved animals, dogs in particular. She made a mental note to herself to bring in a therapy one when he finally opened the door to her.

    It continued like that for a time. Every day at the same hour she would come, knock on the door, and have a conversation with him. Sometimes he would ask her to tell him her stories, something to distract him further from the numbness. She would tell him some things, but kept gently pushing him to tell her more. It was trust building mostly. She needed to eventually get in there and talk to him, this door thing couldn’t keep going on forever. At least she had the help of Charon, who would encourage him to speak, remind him of better times, and keep him from pushing the lady away altogether.

    After a full month of not opening the door to anyone, he would crack it open to see the friendly lady. She was small, black hair and brown eyes, with a friendly smile that only therapists could pull off. He wouldn’t let her in, but he would see her face at least for a moment. Even opening the door just a crack made his skin crawl. Seeing the outside hallway and letting the cooler air in made him almost slam the door on her immediately if not for his ghost calmly telling him that he would be alright.

    “Everything’s alright Cid. There’s nothing out there, and you don’t have to let her in if you can’t bring yourself to.”

    “Charon is right. The fact that you’ve opened the door to me is progress.” She said, even though he was peeking through a small crack in the door. It didn’t last long, as he closed it again, still being consumed by an anxiety greater than he was.

    Over the next week, he would try to open the door more and more. It was a slow process only gaining momentum through encouraging words. He was shaking when he finally opened it completely to her. She was patient, giving him compliments for finally opening the door fully. Charon was also right there with her, happily praising him for jumping that first hurdle. He still couldn’t stand to keep it open for long, but it was still something.

     The more he opened the door, the easier it got. He had to tell himself over and over that nothing would come to harm just by opening the door. He still refused to let her in and chat, but at least now they could talk face to face for longer. She didn’t think it was possible for EXOs to look sick, but somehow Cid had that look about him. His clothes had stains on them, his entre posture looked worn down and ragged and those yellow optics that were once so bright had dimmed and dulled. It was even more reason, especially as she looked at the destruction in his room, that she had to keep working at this.

    It would still be another week before he even considered letting her in, and another week still for him to let her in. The entire time his kept his hands clutching his arms, away from her and sitting cross legged on the floor. Hands to self, away from others, it was safe that way.

    She was saying something or other to him when he finally spoke up that day. He hadn’t really been paying much attention until then, but there was a question he needed answered.

    “How long has it been?” he asked. She paused, looking down at him. Seemingly deciding something, she sat down in front of him on the floor.

    “About 2 and a half months.” She responded. It was the first time he brought it up since she met him as well, she noted.

    “How many died?”

    “32 people, 47 were injured.”

    “I see…”

     32. 32 people were murdered needlessly because of his foolish mistake. 32 families would forever be affected by this. 47 people would forever have a sign that they were there and somehow survived. He couldn’t even begin to do the math on how many people were in general affected by this, not to mention the backlash on Guardians…

    “Your friends miss you, you know.”

    He seemed surprised to hear that, “Why? Why would they…?”

    “They’re worried about you. Every day one of them comes up and asks me if you’re doing any better, if you’ll open the door now and talk to people.”

    “They shouldn’t. I killed so many people…”

    “You didn’t kill them. The Wizard did.”

    “I allowed her to.”

    “Not according to the Vanguard.”

    He looked at her now as if she had two heads. The Vanguard of all people were not against him? They were the ones that finally took him down.

    “According to them and other Guardian reports, you showed signs of hesitation, as if trying to fight off the Hive. You seemed to be stiff, as if trying to fight against invisible strings. They say they gave you a bit of power, and you did the rest. You burst into flames, purging out the evil inside you, and then finally being able to drop that weapon. You didn’t allow her to do this, you fought her every step of the way, did you not?”

     A part of him that resented himself refused to acknowledge it, but a part of him knew it was true. He did fight. He resisted her wherever he could. The final moment where he burst into flames allowed him to remember something he forgot in his self loathing. He won. He destroyed her with a Dawn Blade he’d never been able to summon before.

    The fire was burnt out now, but one day it would ignite once more. It would just take time and support.

    “I know it’s going to take more than me telling you that it’s not your fault Cid. I know that there’s still much to be done before you’ll feel ok again. I know you know it as well. But I will tell you that people still love and support you, despite all this, because they know the truth. They know you didn’t willingly do this. Those people are ready to help you, if you let them.”

    Cid’s gaze fell on the floor. Unsure of how to respond to this revelation.

    “Cid,” Charon finally piped up, “I’m going to be honest, I can’t stand to see you like this. You must feel awful. I don’t want you to keep hurting. I’m sure you don’t want to hurt anymore either, even if you think you deserve it, which you don’t. Believe me when I say that I’m here for you, until the bitter end I’m going to be here, and so are all of your friends. You’re not alone, you don’t deserve to feel like this. We can help you.”

    Those words from his ghost were kind, yet somehow they hurt even more than what he had felt for the last 2 months. They hurt because they were honest, and melting his heart that closed itself up. Again he felt the need for tears but could not shed any. He didn’t understand it, and he wouldn’t understand until he started to look back on it.

   He just gave a nod, and managed to choke out an ‘ok.’

* * * *

    As predicted, it would take a long time.

    In the following months, one by one he opened his door to his worried friends. He would apologize to each of them, and each one would simply say that it was fine, and they were just glad that he was alive and getting better. As for leaving the room, it would take him another month to convince himself to walk the halls in the day time every so often. At first he only managed the end of the hall and back, wrapped in blankets and clutching his ghost, but slowly the walks got longer as the year went on.

    It was hard to tell Annabelle how it was for him during the incident. It wouldn’t get any easier as the story went on, but putting the story out there lifted some weight from his soul. His nightmares would come looking for him and wouldn’t quiet down for a long time. Sometimes he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed or do the simple things he managed to get himself to do again. Annabelle however was patient with him the entire way. Even when he did stumble into days where he didn’t open up to anyone, she would patiently knock on his door until he opened it up again.

    As for the state of the room, that took an intervention from his friends. 6 months after he let Annabelle into the room, he allowed his friends in who slowly helped him to clean it up, walk him to the laundry and finally clean his clothes. They even surprised him with a new cloak, elegantly decorated from Eververse with a note from Tess.

     _Fight on Guardian! With style of course!_  It said.

    The note almost made him smile. What finally cracked a smile was a day later, Annabelle and company came to his room with a dog on a leash. At first he was nervous, but as the pup nuzzled against him he felt his heart melt. He finally smiled, and if he could’ve, he would’ve been crying out of joy. He spent a good hour just petting the pup and hugging it. 6 months ago he would’ve been terrified to accidentally hurt it, now he could enjoy its company.

    Another month later, he would see the Vanguard again for the first time since the incident. He opened the door without hesitation now, and found himself surprised to be face to face with Ikora.

    “Hello Cid. It’s been a while hasn’t it?” she greeted.

    Cid found his words failing him, so Charon spoke up instead, “Uh, yes it has Ikora. What brings you here?”

    “Checking up on you more than anything. Annabelle tells me you’ve been getting better, and I wanted to see for myself.”

    The two of them looked at each then back to Ikora, “Well um, thanks. He has been getting a lot better.”

     “And… uh…” Cid looked down a bit, “… I never did thank you for saving me. I don’t know what wold’ve happened if you, Zavala, and Cayde didn’t step in.”

      She nodded a little, “Of course. I’m glad everything is starting to turn out alright. I hope to see you around the libraries again Cid. Your presence there is quite missed.”

    As she walked away, Cid couldn’t help but think there had been something more to that visit.

    5 months later he could walk around the tower. During the day he walked about almost as if nothing had happened at all. At first he would get odd stares, people not making eye contact in the libraries, but people grew used to his presence, and the Thorn incident faded from their minds. It would never be forgotten, but at least they stopped immediately thinking about it when he walked in.

    The Night was still a struggle. He needed at least one person to be with him for any hope of walking around comfortably. He still slept with at least one light on in his room. Despite this he could feel forms of happiness again. He felt it through simple things again such as getting ramen with his friends, reading books, being able to do things he struggled with at the beginning of this.

    He could even begin to train himself again for field missions and the crucible. This time however it was not the quiet power of the Void that hummed through him as he fought, but a burning fire. A fire that was gaining momentum the more he recovered, the more he heard his friends say that they missed him on the fire teams. The more he came to know there was more to do for him, and he had to battle on, the hotter and brighter that flame burned on.

   Another year later, he was back on the field, leading the way against the Fallen. He had risen from the ashes the witch burned him down to and now was stronger, more deadlier, than ever before.

   But there was something that bothered him, something that he finally went to Ikora and had to ask about. What had happened to the Thorn after he burned that witch away? Where did it go? Was it destroyed? Or did they actually…

    When he came into the room, he was met with the horrible answer. Something on the study table was sparking like mad. Void energy emitted from it and made even Ikora and Master Rahool back away from it. He recognized the form on the desk, and immediately felt a surge of rage fill him. Did they not learn from him? Did they not see that trying to study this thing was a horrible idea?

    “YOU FUCKING KEPT IT?!” he screeched over the sound of the sparks. Ikora turned around in shock. Cid wasn’t supposed to know about this, for one thing, and for another, he was the last person she’d think would walk through and find out.

    “Listen I-“

    “DON’T YOU ‘LISTEN’ ME! THAT THING IS FUCKING EVIL!” he felt a swirling ball of fire grow in his hand as the gun shook and seemed to threaten to burst open. He threw it down at it, and the resulting explosion seemed to finally get it to calm down. Even still, he was glaring daggers at Ikora and the cryptarch.

    “Cid, I can explain.” Ikora started

    “Oh I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to find out more about the Hive by studying that evil spawn of hell. That evil spawn of hell is the reason 32 innocents died, 47 were injured, and Traveler knows how many people affected. That gun could’ve destroyed everything, you know this. If you hadn’t stepped in with the Vanguard who knows how long I would’ve been possessed? Who knows how many more people would’ve died, huh? Now you want to study it and take the risk yourself?! You think you’re above getting possessed by that thing Ikora?! YOU’RE NOT!”

    “We’re taking precautions-“

   “Precautions won’t mean shit when you suddenly find yourself pointing a gun at Zavala and Cayde and are helpless to stop it.” He growled, getting up in her face now. He looked at the gun, every inch of him was screaming to destroy it now while he had the chance. Ikora couldn’t stop him, Rahool couldn’t stop him…

    “We need this Cid.” Rahool finally spoke up, “This could be a clue into how the Hive Magic works, and how to counter it. We can get a step closer to eliminating them once and for all.”

    Cid glared right at him, resisting the urge to throw his fist at him. What he was saying was true, but the thought of someone else going through that again….

     “… fine…” he hissed, “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

     He stormed out, seething with rage. He wouldn’t forgive them for this, not for a long time. Even then he would never forget it. He wouldn’t forget it despite the stories he would be told later. He wouldn’t forget it despite the missions.

      He would certainly not forget it, by the time he finally met Gale Glassford.


	3. Drinking Problem

It’s not at all uncommon to see this place full. Guardians have seen things, know things, are haunted constantly by these things. There are many who want to forget, so they turn to an old vice. They always do, and perhaps always have, even though in the morning the thing they were trying to forget would come back for them.

Gale wasn’t coming here to forget however. If anything she wants to remember something. A face in muddled dreams, a sweet voice chiming her name, calling her ‘sister’ is one that seemed to follow the Awoken around wherever she went. She was an oddity among Warlocks, among Guardians, because some memory was left in tact when she was reborn as a Guardian. Some was not a lot in all honesty. There was so much that had been lost, and what she retained was Knowledge and her name. That knowledge was medical knowledge and it was percisely the thing that landed her into her unique situation.

The reason she came here was mostly for something to do. Walking in the scent of alcohol hit her nose as the noise she could vaguely hear outside now hit her full blast. She looked over the crowd dancing in the middle of the place, all moving about without a care, dancing their hearts out, forgetting their troubles. The lights were dim, but her own golden eyes stuck out as she quietly walked around them to get to the main bar. She wasn’t one for dancing, that was for certain. She rather quietly sit down with a drink and have a conversation

There was one other person here at the barstools other than the bartender. He was an EXO with black and gold plates making up his face. He seemed to be watching everyone, tapping his fingers to the beat against his lap, his yellow hues moving over to see her her approach, then turning back to the crowd. Gale noted he didn’t have a drink anywhere near him, which was a bit odd. Perhaps he came with others who were currently lost in the crowd?

“Excuse me.” Gale piped up as she approached him. His gaze turned to her as he straightened up a bit to give her his attention, “May I sit beside you?”

“Sure.” He nodded, his mouth lighting up with a yellow as he spoke. He shifted on his stool to face the other as she sat down. She asked for a drink from the human manning the bar.

“You want anything?” she asked, looking back at the EXO.

He shook his head, “I’m alright, thank you though. I’m mostly here because my fireteam dragged me here.”

She nodded with a small smile, “I see. Well not drinking makes a Ghost’s life easier.”

She thanked the bartender as he set a beer next to her. She heard him laugh a bit, “You say as you get one yourself.”

“Winter doesn’t mind.” Gale smiled a bit as she tucked her flaxen hair behind her ear. It looked like a mess of light curls that reached just past the shoulder. She had given up a long time ago trying to tame it.

“Winter? Your Ghost’s name?” he asked.

“Yeah. Does your Ghost have a name?” 

“Charon.” Gale watched as the small ghost came out of transmat. Gale could recognize the shell design as one belonging to the Iron Banner. He spun his shell happily seeing her, and Gale couldn’t help but notice the fondness that the other looked at his Ghost. 

“So you introduce us, but you don’t even tell each other your names?” Gale jumped slightly as Winter came out of transmat. His shell was just a default white one, as he had yet to find a better one he liked. She felt her cheeks heat up a bit in embarrassment as she realized she forgot to tell this man her name. 

“Oh! I’m sorry! My name’s Gale! Gale Glassford.” She found herself fidgeting a little, the ambient light on her skin collecting at her greyish cheeks to form a blush. He laughed a little and waved it off.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. My name is Cid. I guess technically it’s Cid-0, but Cid’s fine.”

“0?” Gale tilted her head a bit, “I thought all EXOs were reset at least once?”

He shrugged, “You’d think, but I guess I wasn’t for some reason? Death isn’t a reset apparently, even if it does wipe your memory clean save for your name.”

“Hm…” Gale frowned a little, “That is odd.” She then shook her head a bit, “I-I’m sure you don’t want to talk about it. A-Anyways, you said you came here with others?”

“Yeah.” he turned towards the crowd, “Not that you can see them right now and it would be hard to point out, but I came with 5 others. Marlene, Paul, Edna, Tom, and Darin.”

She nodded, “They wanted to get you out?”

“Kinda.” he shrugged, “What was that Marlene said? ‘You sit in here and play video games or read confusion books. Come have fun.’ And then she proceeded to lift me up and toss me to Tom.”

Gale giggled a little. Sounded like Titan behaviour alright, “Let me guess, you’re a Warlock?”

“I don’t know what makes you think that.” Cid smiled a bit back at her, “Couldn’t be the anti-social research bit.”

“I can understand that a bit. I’m a Warlock too, Voidwalker. You?”

“They call it Dawnblade.” Cid shrugged as he raised his hand up a little, opening his palm as a small flame appeared in his hand, “It’s just another way of using Solar.”

Gale nodded. “I see. That’s rather new to me. I used to be a Sunsinger, but I switched when I got better hold of my powers.” her cheeks lit up a bit in embarrassment, “I got so excited the first time I set half of my teacher’s things on fire.”

He laughed a little as he lowered his hand, letting the flame fizzle out, “I know that feeling. For me I freaked out a bit and set the curtains on fire. Panic followed and lets just say they don’t have curtains in those rooms anymore.”

She giggled a little. She was already starting to like this man. She watched him turn himself back towards her and giving her his full attention. 

“I’m sure you have stories.What sort of fieldwork have you been doing lately?”

“Me? Oh…” Gale nervously flickered her gazze away before turning back to him, “Funny story about that. You see I don’t get to do much fieldwork. I actually work with Medics in the city.”

“Oh?” Cid tilted his head, “Why’s that?”

“Well, in my last life, I believe I was a doctor, or a nurse. A medic of some sort. I guess I wasn’t dead long enough for my name or my knowledge to fade. I came to the tower and told the Vanguard this, and Ikora asked if I could help the city doctors. One thing led to another, and now I’m mostly full time nurse at hospitals who are short medical staff. I practice my light weilding skills and gunplay, but I find that I don’t get out too much.”

“I see.” Cid nodded as he raised his brows. It was rather odd for him to have brows, but Gale didn’t question it. She was sure he had no clue why he looked as unique as he did, “That’s actually really neat. Do you like working there?”

“Oh! Yes!” Gale nodded, “I love being able to help people. That’s not to say it doesn’t get crazy or there isn’t bad days, but I still enjoy it!”

“That’s good.” he smiled, “It would be awful if you didn’t like it. If you don’t mind me asking, what else did you remember?”

Gale frowned a little as she looked to her lap, “Well I… sometimes I get… glimpses of sorts. A girl calling me ‘sister.’ She sounds happy most times, but sometimes I hear her telling to… not go… So I guess I had a sister?” She rought her hand up to the side of her head as a small headache formed, “I feel like she was… really important.”

“Hey,” Cid piped up as he leaned forward. She looked up at him, his face filled with concern. There would be many more times he would give her this look, “Don’t force yourself. I shouldn’t have asked. Sorry.”

“Oh, it’s fine.” she waved it off and gave him a tiny smile, “Don’t worry about it. It just bothers me every so often that I don’t remember.”

He nodded, “I know the feeling. I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out my past. I hope something comes to you though.”

“Thank you.” Gale nodded, “So, what about you? Lot’s of fieldwork?”

He chuckled, “Yeah. Everything from ‘hang out in an area and tell us what it’s like’ to ‘go onto this magical piece of shit spaceship and kill a God.’”

“Wait.” Her eyes lit up a little. Who hadn’t heard of the brave 6 who ventured into the Dreadnaught? “You were part of that?”

He nodded, “I know that doesn’t sound believable, but I was. Let me tell you, 0 out of 10, would not recommend. Oryx is a bastard, and I hate the Hive and the Taken.”

She giggled, “No, it sounds believable because instead of showing off, you’re complaining about it.”

“I hated the Dreadnaught, so much.”

“I haven’t dealt with much Hive, but I can understand that.” 

As they kept talking, there was something that Gale couldn’t help but notice. He was hiding his right hand beneath his left constantly. When he turned to check on his friends, she looked down to his hands to notice the right one didn’t quite match the left. The right was thinner, more skeleton like, than the left.

“Bad injury.” Cid suddenly piped up. Gale’s gaze snapped up to see his face. He wasn’t smiling, and his voice made it clear he didn’t really want to talk about it, “My hand was destroyed, my Ghost couldn’t fix it.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.” Gale looked down to her own lap, “I didn’t mean to stare.”

“It’s fine.” he said, but she didn’t quite belive him. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see him giving a gentle look, “Don’t worry about it.”

She nodded a little, “Ok.”

“Awwwww did you find yourself a girlfriend?” someone suddenly piped up. Gale’s cheeks started to burn as she looked over to see 5 rather drunk guardians wander over. Cid lowered his hand as he sighed, putting the left back over the right. There was 1 human, 2 Awoken, and 2 EXO, the human and one of the EXOs were clearly built Titans, while the smaller Awoken, the male, was clearly a Warlock. The human had a lopsided teasing grin on his face as he lightly punched Cid’s arm.

“Oi, shut up Tom.” Cid groaned as he waved him off.

“I don’t know, she’s cute. You seemed to be having a nice conversation~!” The Awoken male teased.

“Come on now!” The larger EXO female piped up, “This isn’t any way to introduce ourselves to this lady!”

“No kidding.” The awoken woman rolled her eyes before reaching a hand out for Gale to shake, “Edna, local hunter. Nice to meet you.”

“Tom!” The human waved at her.

“Paul-7.” the other EXO piped up.

“Darin.” The male Awoken waved as well.

“Marlene-11. Thanks for keeping our friend company.”

“Ah, no problem. Gale.” the woman managed to shake Edna’s hand and then Marlene’s, “Are you having fun?”

“Yeah, we figured we’d pop over and say hi though!” Tom grinned ear to ear as he elbowed Cid who rolled his eyes.

“You’re an ass, you know that?” Cid asked.

“Yeah, but you love me anyways.”

“I feel like love is a very strong word.”

Gale giggled a little, “Well, perhaps I should be off then? I’ll leave you all to it.”

“Hey! You can stick around!” Marlene clapped a hand down on Gale’s shoulder, who winced in return, “Any friend of Cid’s a friend of ours!”

“For sure! I mean, we’re gonna get back to dancing, but you two can definitely stay and chat.” Darin piped up with a smile. Gale noted the look the Warlock gave Cid. Pride? Relief? Happiness? Did something happen recently. They all seemed too happy Cid was talking to someone new…

Perhaps she was overthinking it, “Well,,, I can stay a while longer. I have work in the morning though.”

“Of course. Hey! Hit us up any time you need an extra hand out there!” Paul called as he hurried off to be back on the floor. They all waved to the woman before following him. 

“I see they’re close.” Gale commented as soon as they were out of earshot.

Cid nodded, “Yeah. We’ve been through a lot together. I don’t know what I’d do without them…”

“…are you going to be back?” Gale asked. He seemed surprised that she did. “I mean, I’d uh… like to talk to you again.”

He nodded, “I can come back if you want. Sure. I…” He seemed to have a hard time forming his words, “I liked our conversation.”

“Of course!” She could tell this was the start of a wonderful friendship, “You’re going to have to tell me about your adventures. I doubt I have anything exciting to tell, but if you want to…”

“Yeah, I’d like that Gale.”

They would see each other tomorrow night, then the next, the next, and another night. Gale would laugh and talk with Cid, growing their friendship quickly, but was completely unaware of something deep within her newfound friend.

It would come out one day, but for now he would not breathe a word about The Thorn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually a remade version of this chapter, which it why it might seem a bit better written than others. The old one was extremely outdated.


	4. Alexander's Great Adventure

Perhaps when this Exo was raised from the ground, his ghost should’ve noticed something was a bit… off.

He could hear the voice of the ghost as he started to see for the first time in centuries. The light was blinding at first, as was natural when someone had been dead for over 300 years was suddenly revived on the Northern Shores of Lake Superior. As his vision adjusted he could the see the tiny glowing machine floating above him. It seemed rather happy with itself, moving side to side and spinning a little.

“Guardian! Oh I’m so happy I found you! I’ve been looking for you or a really long time! Centuries even!”

Someone had been looking for him? For what reason? It wasn’t like he could remember at the moment. As he made himself sit up he could see better where he was. The beach of former Catherine Cove was silent with only the waves crashing up on the sand and rocks filling the air. The sky was clear, and in the distance he could see the rises of rock of the Canadian Shield covered in trees and beautifully painting the horizon as they reached out towards the lake. Behind him the white pine stood silent, but not unwelcoming.

“I’m Ghost,” the little bot caught his attention again and he looked right at it, “Well to be more specific, I’m your ghost. I brought you back from the dead because you were chosen by the Traveler to be a Guardian of Humanity.”

Ghost was only met with a tilt of the head. The unit’s light blue eyes somehow further the look of confusion and curiosity that he felt. He had no idea what The Traveler was, nor a Guardian, nor humanity. Was he a human? Was this little floating thing a human? No he said he was a Ghost. But what’s a ghost? Why was this one his?

“Um, it’s very important! You’ll protect people from dangerous aliens and other nasty things. Now, you’ve been uh… dead for the last 300 years, so things will be quite different from what you remember. If you remember anything of course, it’s quite common for Guardians to lose their memory after being dead that long.”

300 years? He did know that was a very large number. Being dead was a bad thing, probably. Dangerous aliens were also bad things. Protecting things though, that was a good thing to do! Right? He had not a clue how he would but he would like to keep things from being hurt. As for what he remembered, well that… that was a good question.

What could he remember? Well, not much, actually. He tried to think back to before he was raised out of the ground and drew blanks. Nothing was there anymore. He was only getting a hazy sense in his head, as if something was blocking him from remembering. It was even starting to give him a headache trying to think about it.

“Um, Guardian? Is something wrong? You seem very… distracted. I know it can be a bit overwhelming at first but…”

He shook his head, “.. / -.-. .- -. -. - - - - / .-. . - - . - - -… . .-.”

“Uh…. ok? What you did there was a bunch of beeps.” Ghost looked down for a bit as if he was trying to figure it out before looking at him again. “Uh, how about you uh…. tell me your name?”

His name? Well, that came to him rather quickly, but even though he opened his mouth to say it, only those beeps and a green light seemed to come out. Beeps he understood, but clearly not his Ghost

“.- .-.. . -..- .- -. -.. . .-.”

“Ooookay?” Ghost turned around and seemed to droop a bit with a sigh, “This is not going well…” he turned around again, “Listen uh, we’re going to sit tight for a while. I’m going to boost my signal so someone can pick us up and take us to the Last City. We’ll figure it out from there. Uh, nod if you understood that.”

Not really, but he nodded anyways.

“Great!” He seemed to perk right up, “Just give me a second to boost my signal and someone will show up soon!”

Ghost turned around, and the man finally stood up and brushed the sand off of himself. Looking down at his hands he could see they were metallic and white. He could register they were cold when the put them together. He also noted he was wearing some sort of clothing as well, plated with metal and heavily damaged. Being dead probably didn’t do much for it, he thought.

He walked over to the water washing in and out on the shore. Kneeling down he poked the incoming wave only to jerk his hand back because of how cold it was! He stood back up straight, beeping in response.

“W-What are you doing?!” Ghost shouted and floated right over to see what the problem was. He pointed at the water in response, beeping as he rubbed his hands together to warm them.

“The water is cold?” Ghost guessed. Was that was this clear stuff rushing in and out was? If so then yes, it was cold! He nodded in response, “Well, of course it’s cold! It’s October! Lake Superior is very big and very cold!”

He was met with another confused tilt of the head, and Ghost sighed. This was going to be a long day.

* * * *

The entire time they waited, Ghost spent most of it trying to explain what things were to his Guardian. It came to a point where he would point things out and Ghost would do his best to tell him what it was in simple terms. It turned out, this Guardian knew next to nothing about the world. He would point the water, the trees, the hillsides, a stick on the beach, a fallen log, everything and anything.

Once he was done that he picked up a stick and started drawing shapes into the sand. For a bit, Ghost didn’t understand half the shapes he was making, but they started to become clear: one was a stick figure of a woman, one was of the trees, and one was the water. There was another stick figure with a rod and a line on a dock near the water picture.

“You… you had a wife? You liked fishing?” Ghost asked. He was met with his Guardian’s gaze, and then a shrug.

“You don’t know?”

He shook his head. He really didn’t know. He looked down at the stick figure of a woman, and it made him oddly sad… and he didn’t know why.

“So let me get this straight. You don’t remember anything, even about the world around you.”

He gave a nod, staring at the woman stick figure. Ghost looked at it as well, thinking for a moment before speaking.

“Maybe you do remember, somewhere deep inside.”

Maybe, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted it to now. He didn’t like the dull ache in his chest as the image of the woman pricked at his mind. Fuzzy, unfocused, even the voice was muffled and distant when he tried to think on who it could be. The more he thought about her, the more his chest hurt.

He decided to stop.

A distant sound caught his attention and he looked up. The sound was an incoming aircraft, something that the guardian didn’t remember either. He seemed to jolt a little in shock and pointed right up at it so Ghost could explain.

“That’s an aircraft. It’s going to take us to the Last City. You’ll meet Zavala, Ikora and Cayde there. I’ll bet they’ll be able to help you out!”

The Exo looked at Ghost, somehow seeming nervous. For a moment Ghost didn’t understand what it meant, but it seemed apparent once he thought on his last words.

“Don’t worry, they’re nice people, and I’ll be there!”

Seemingly reassured, the guardian looked back up to the incoming ship. In only a minute it had come overhead and all they saw was a flash of light. The next thing they knew, they were standing in the back of the aircraft. Naturally, the guardian looked around, confused, bewildered, bringing his hands close to his chest as he nervously processed that strange happening.

“It’s alright. We’re on the ship now, she teleported us up here. You’re ok.” Ghost assured him.

“What, never been on one of these before? I thought all Guardians of the Golden Age would’ve flown at least once. Or at least be familiar with it.” The pilot called back.

“Well this is uh… a bit of a special case. He has no memory whatsoever about well… anything.”

“Really? Jeez, you’re gonna have your work cut out for you for the next while. Name’s Amanda Holiday, Guardian. I’ll be your pilot on the way to the Last City, which is literally on the other side of the planet soooo, get comfy big guy.”

He could feel beneath his feet the forward motion of the craft. He could see that there were seats lined against the walls and decided to sit down in one. Somehow it felt like that was what he was supposed to do, and then he was to wait until the pilot let him land wherever their destination was.

“So Ghost, does he remember his name?” Amanda called back.

“Maybe? He’s either malfunctioning or speaks in some sort of weird computer language I don’t know.”

“Well that’s not helpful. If he’s speaking in a computer language though shouldn’t you be able to figure it out? Not that I know what computer language it out loud…”

“It’s a bit distorted, a bunch of beeps.”

“Maybe they mean something? We’ll figure it out when we get there.” There was a pause before, “Amanda Holiday to base, we have a slight problem…” 

The ride was long and mostly silent. Every now and then the Guardian would point to something and ghost would explain it, but otherwise there was silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable one, it was more of it was hard to talk about things when one was both mute and didn’t remember anything. Hours passed before someone said something.

“Coming up on the Last City now. Already told the guys you were coming and of the situation, they’ll meet you in the courtyard.” Amanda called back.

“Thanks Amanda. Stand up guardian, she’s going to teleport us down. Don’t be afraid, it’s all normal and you’ll be fine.”

The Exo stood up, feeling yet another sense of familiarity in the motion. He stood there straight, and didn’t find himself taken aback when the light shone again and placed him at the base of a tower. Immediately he looked up and found himself marvelling at it and the wall it was a part of. The structure loomed over the city, facing the outside world and readying itself for anything.

Behind it a huge white sphere floated in sky, dormant and sleeping, for now. He felt oddly drawn to it, as if it called him. It hung over the city, the base dark, and the outer shell very quietly humming with light as it restored itself.

“That’s the Traveler. He’s the source of all light. He made us ghosts and chooses people to be guardians, like he chose you.” Ghost explained.

“Hey you!” someone called. The Ghost and Guardian both looked over to see three people walking towards them. One Awoken, one Exo, and one Human approached them with different airs around the three of them. Ghost of course knew who they were right away.

“Guardian, meet Zavala, Cayde 6, and Ikora. They’re the leaders or Vanguard of the Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks respectively.”

“.. - / .. … / -. .. -.-. . / - - - - / - - . . - / -.- - - - - ..-”

“Uh… nice to meet you too buddy.” Cayde replied sheepishly. The Exo perked right up and started talking in more beeps as if Cayde had actually understood him.

“You understood all that?” Zavala asked with a raised brow.

“No, I didn’t. I just guessed and happened to get it right, apparently.” The man in front of them seemed visibly dismayed with that admission, “Why’d you bring me along again?”

“I thought maybe you’d know how to help our new Guardian. You’re an Exo and good with machines.”

“Look Zavala I may know how to reattach my own leg if my ghost can’t do it or fix up an aircraft, but voice modules and poking around in an Exo’s head is not exactly my forte so to say. I mean sure the voice thing is probably some weird kink or something or other but the point is, I’m not the guy who should be doing that.”

“Some weird kink huh?” Ikora mused. She glanced up at the Exo seemingly coming to a conclusion of some sort.

“Glimmer for your thoughts?” Cayde asked.

“Guardian, can you say S.O.S for me?” she asked.

“… - - - …”

Ghost seemed to light right up, “Oh! Of course! Morse Code! I don’t know why you speak in it, but at least now we know what it is. Haha, I feel really silly now for not figuring it out. Either way, I can understand you now!”

The man nodded eagerly, “- -.- . …!”

“Morse code huh? Is that one of your Warlock Secrets?” Zavala asked her in a slightly teasing tone.

“No, just a really good guess.” She replied with a small smile.

“Great, so now we’re saving the world on guesses.” Cayde commented, but decided against saying any more.

“So what is your name Guardian?” Zavala asked. Beeps of course were the only thing that came out, but this time Ghost knew what to look for and could translate.

“Alexander. Alexander-1.”

Zavala smiled, “Welcome aboard then, Alexander.”

* * * *

To say he was blown away was a bit of an understatement.

As Cayde and Ikora walked off to their own devices, Zavala showed them the tower. He explained to Alexander that he was most likely Titan Class, warriors that rely on their strength and endurance, judging by his build and the dormant light within him. As they walked in the tower, he was shown where they trained and Alexander found himself in awe of their abilities. Guardians with swords, using powers to leap place to place, and what seemed to be magic shields to protect themselves.

“You can do that too, with the right training of course.” He said as they walked though and stopped beside one of the sweeper bots. “We Titans also pride ourselves in strength and discipline.”

As soon as the man said that, they could both hear someone yelling, and the sound getting closer at an alarming rate. When Alexander turned around he watched another man crash right into the sweeper bot. From the look of it, he’d been trying to leap on the railings and messed up his jump.

“Well… most of us…”

Alexander walked over to the man who was slowly getting up with a groan. He seemed human, as far as Alexander could tell anyways, and had scruff on his lower face but a bald head. Odd, he thought, he’d ask his ghost about it later.

He offered his hand to the fallen man, who looked up in surprise, “Uh, thanks man.” He said and pulled himself up. Right beside the fallen man, a ghost materialized and started to scold him for being stupid. The man ignored him for a moment, “You’re new right? Name’s Red. Maybe I’ll catch you later.”

Red walked away, his ghost still scolding him. Alexander looked at the commander who had grown a small smile on his face.

“Well, even if you don’t remember your past, at least you remember how to be kind.”

* * * *

“How are you feeling Alexander?”

On the wall looking over the city the Exo stood, looking out over the vast stretch of buildings that one day he would learn to protect. The Traveler loomed silently over it all, sleeping on, waiting for an appropriate time to wake up and bless the planet once more. People said the Traveler had answers, but Alexander wasn’t finding any. It didn’t bother him so much that he couldn’t remember things like what brick and mortar were, it was more of he felt like he was forgetting something very important, and the more he stared at The Traveler, the more that feeling gnawed away at him. The woman’s voice would also be there, still as distant and muffled as ever.

“I know you must be overwhelmed, but I can assure you that people will help you. I’ll help you.” Ghost said. Alexander turned to him, giving him a nod and thumbs up in place of a smile.

“How about we go to your room for the night? It’s getting late.”

He nodded again. Ghost floated beside him, guiding him back through the place to the quarters. It was small, only a bed and a wardrobe, and as Alexander sat down he could feel a weariness come over him. Somehow it seemed funny to him that he was tired, but he couldn’t remember why.

He didn’t know how long he sat there. The room just seemed to slowly dim until the lights were out. He hadn’t realized he had dozed off. The darkness didn’t feel cold like it did last time.

Last time? What did last time mean, he wondered. Did he also slightly remember his death? Was it like this darkness, but cold? He didn’t know, but what he did know was the longer he stayed in this darkness, the more the echo of a woman sounded clearer as his dreams would now begin to guide him.

“Alex! Alex honey!”

He couldn’t see her, but he felt something like a hand over his eyes. He heard another voice now, a male one. Even though it wasn’t his current voice, somehow Alexander felt like the voice was his.

“Heh heh, now who could that be I wonder?”

“You’ve already forgotten? You break my heart!” she laughed a little, “I’ll give you a hint, it starts with T.”

When Alexander woke up again, he would not know her name.


	5. Trick of the Trade

If someone were to pick the most troublesome duo, it would be Ash and Sarah.

It wasn’t troublesome in the sense that they were no good for each other, or they resented each other. It was more of they were too good, and tended to cause mayhem. Out on the field where they could shoot Fallen, that wasn’t such a big deal. In the tower however…

Well, it was not a good idea to leave rare items out if you wanted them preserved.

The Survivalist, Serah, wasn’t usually the one that caused trouble. More than anything she was just along for the ride, as a sort of accomplice, or at the very least the ticket out of whatever the other had gotten into. She was an oddity among the hunters, quiet, kept mostly to herself, but for some reason Ash, the one obsessed with fire, was the one that would win her friendship.

The Girl on Fire named herself that, Ash. She had no recollection whatsoever of her past, not even her name. Not a day went by where fire wasn’t in her hands some way or another. With a smile she would set things ablaze and then move on to whatever mission or event she had to go to next. Her pyromania was a concern around other guardians, but that never stopped her before.

The crucible was where she made a name for herself. The woman was a natural born fighter, grinning even when she lost. The flames that danced around her earned her more than a few compliments from Lord Shaxx, and even times where he would yell in excitement when she wiped out the enemy team with that sword of hers. The only thing more impressive was the Golden Gun she wielded. It was one that she had been actively working on, trying to get it so it rivalled that of even Cayde-6. It still had a ways to go before it would ever reach that point sure, but the burning flame certainly helped it along.

Serah on the other hand preferred scouting. Being out alone for days on end, surviving like she remembered how to in her previous life. It was calm and quiet, she could shoot all the Fallen she’d like. Cayde would point, she’d go and scout. Most times she was out longer than most Guardians, just because she could, and came back with more intel than most because of it. She really was only in the tower when there was nothing else to do, silently weaving in and out, not speaking unless she had to. Even her ghost didn’t speak much. No one even knew what class she specialized in. If they were to hazard a guess, the fabled Nightstalker came to mind.

So how did the two meet? As any duo does: at the bar.

When Ash first waltzed in, she wasn’t intending to talk to the girl with red lipstick on in the corner. She was intending to walk in there, have a few drinks, party the night away, and in general have a good time. Maybe if she was lucky, she could set a few things on fire to really spice it up. Last time was setting some of the drinks ablaze and watching some poor fool attempt to drink it. There were some grumpy ghosts that night.

Sarah wasn’t intending to talk to that small brunette when she walked in. Her plans were to simply sit in the bar, drink to forget a horrid feeling from the past, then go home and sleep. She had washed the red X off her face already that night, making her seem less intimidating at the very least. Blue eyes stared at the whiskey at the bottom of the glass, tuning out the noise behind her and ignoring the girl riling up the crowd, for now at least.

The hours passed, and around midnight would be the first time Sarah would save Ash from the trouble. Normally when 3 titans walked in cracking their knuckles with hints they had been drinking beforehand, Sarah would make a beeline for the door and not want to deal with the bar fight that was sure to happen. This time however one of them immediately picked up the hunter, up over his head, grinning ear to ear. The sudden shrieking was what caused Sarah to stop midway getting up and looking at the mess that was starting to unfold.

“Boys! Toss the Hunter time!” one of them slurred out.

There was a fist full of fire in Ash’s hands in a split second. It came down upon the man in a swift motion, causing him to let go and drop her to the ground. The only problem was now there were 3 angry Titans surrounding her, and the rest of the bar seemed more intent on watching or making the fight a lot bigger than what Ash could really handle. Though she was ready to fight her way out, she always was, the odds were not looking well in her favour.

Perhaps something about the sight thawed out the ice in Sarah’s heart. Or maybe she was always kind. Or maybe she couldn’t stand to see the many gang up on the few. No one really knows except Sarah herself. All that they would know was she would walk over behind one of those big burly men, tap one on the shoulder, and in one swift motion, punch that man in the face. With that motion, it allowed Ash to slip out from the center of attention and dive out of the way of the incoming bar fight.

Before Sarah could end up in the midst of it, she felt Ash grabbed her wrist and started to pull her away from the fight. As much as she liked a good fight, that one could only end sour for the both of them.

“Come on! Run!” she shouted when she could feel the woman hesitate behind her. Serah picked up her feet and ran out of the bar, following the girl down the streets and out to an outlook where they finally came to a stop.

“Whew! Man! Thanks for bailing me out! Don’t think I could’ve taken out all three!” Ash huffed, grinning ear to ear.

“Hah…. you’re welcome…” Sarah breathed, holding onto the railing trying to catch her breath.

“I’m Ash.” The girl now leaned against the railing, “I haven’t seen you before. Are you a new guardian?”

Sarah shook her head, “I wouldn’t call myself new…”

“Eh? You must not play the crucible often!” Ash raised a brow, “I’ve fought a lot of guardians, but you haven’t been one of them.”

Serah shook her head, “I rather the wilds.”

“Hey, the wilds are fun every now and then. Don’t like going alone though. I find that it gets dark and spooky and I uh, tend to set everything on fire. Cayde gets mad when I do that.”

Sarah raised a brow, “Set everything on fire?”

“Yeah like the forests, and the Fallen bastards. Those though are good to set on fire. Not so much the forests. That time though was an accident.”

Serah shook her head a little, “So do you even go out on strikes or anything?”

“Sometimes. This idiot named Red and this nice Warlock named Cid sometimes go with me. Cid however keeps saying I need to see someone about my uh… pyromania? Something like that, and Red’s just… uh… think of the dumbest rock and times it by ten and you have Red. I think his ghost revived him with brain damage or something.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

“It’s that bad. I’m being serious.”

Sarah let out a quiet laugh, “And here I thought I was done with The Traveler’s favourite people.”

“Eh?” Ash raised a brow.

“Oh, an old world saying. It stems from ‘The Traveler must love stupid people, he’s let enough of them live.’ And therefore they are the Traveler’s favourite people.”

Ash burst out laughing, “Oh man! Oh that’s a good one!”

Maybe it was because they were both a little drunk that night when they met. Maybe that was the reason Sarah finally spoke to someone in ages for a reason other than she had to. Either way however, something about the other woman laughing at her jokes brought a long forgotten smile to Sarah’s face, even if it was a tiny one.

“I’ve got a lot more where that came from.”

“If that’s the case, I can tell we’re gonna be best friends. What is your name?”

“Sarah. Sarah Navarra.”

“Ooooh, a last name! Fancy! Well Sarah, if we’re not hung over tomorrow, wanna meet for some ramen?”

She was about to say no, but stopped herself. She was glad she stopped herself later, “Actually… that would be nice.”

* * * *

The next morning at the ramen shop, Sarah did show up as promised. Ash was already there, downing a bowl of ramen. She glanced up and waved to other as she walked over and took a seat.

“Hey there! Glad to see you’re not hung over either!” Ash called.

“Not this time it seems, though I’m not used to waking up this early at the tower.” Sarah added.

“What? You sleep all day? I couldn’t do that.”

They chatted for a good hour over anything. It was mostly Ash talking. She had many crucible stories, a lot of them where she completely annihilated the other team. Sarah didn’t mind listening to them. If anything it was another distraction like the whiskey and the sleep. The way her hands moved and gestured gave her stories even more life to them, life that Sarah had been missing ever since she was reborn.

Sarah glanced over to check her surroundings out of habit and made a quiet disgusted sound. Ash turned around to see what she was looking at. Some man who thought he was a hotshot was standing there, grinning one of those flirty grins. Ash frowned a little and leaned over to the shop keep.

“Hey buddy, you got any more flowers from your wife? Can I use one?” Sarah didn’t hear the answer, but he did come back with a tulip after a moment. Ash reached into her pocket, pulling out a small device and putting it in the middle of flower and out of sight.

“Give this to him and watch the magic happen.” Ash instructed. Sarah raised a brow at her and Ash started grinning ear to ear, “Trust me, this is going to be great.”

Sarah sighed and took the flower from Ash, walking up to the flirty man. He raised his brows a little seeing her walk over, before leaning casually over the railing, making sure to keep on that cheeky grin. It was enough to make Sarah sick, but she managed to put on a fake smile for him.

“U-Um. Here, for you…” she stuttered a little and offered him the pink tulip.

“For me? Why thank you my lady.” He replied and took the flower out of her hands. Sarah started to take a few steps back as he examined it. Suddenly the entire head of the flower burst in a small explosion, knocking the man back and dropping the flower that was now on fire. Sarah stared at the scene as the man started shouting and wailing about his ‘beautiful face’ before finding a grin spreading over her face. In the back, she could hear Ash howling with laughter, and some giggles even managed to escape her as she walked back to the shop.

“Told you! He won’t be bugging you again anytime soon!” Ash giggled.

“It was certainly clever. I’ll have to keep it in mind.”

“I’ve got lots more where that came from, if you want to join me. It’s always fun messing with people.

* * * *

“I’ve got an idea!”

“It’s probably terrible. Let’s hear it.”

Two weeks later, they were as thick as thieves. Ash would come dragging Sarah out and on some crazy new adventure or prank, and Sarah would bail her out. In return, she would get some laughs that she had needed for a long time.

It usually ended in a chase. Ash was very keen on leaving tiny explosives, or setting things on fire in general. Already the most memorable thing was when Ash decided to experiment, and by experiment she meant ‘Set Cid’s things on fire and see if they’re fireproof.’ Turns out no, no they were not. Also, it makes for a very angry warlock. In the end it was Sarah who tripped the poor man that allowed Ash to escape his wrath.

Now it would be the first time Ash had left the tower overnight for a scouting mission in quite a long time. She was not alone of course, she would be with Sarah, who promised her that she would teach her what she knew. Sarah of course didn’t really know how little Ash knew, but that look Cayde gave her after assigning them was probably a hint. Keep an eye on this one.

Out in the wilderness of what used to be Southern Ontario they would fly to. What was long ago once farmland and city was a desolated ruin in some areas, and pure forests in others. Trees now reclaimed the farms, and the cities were almost unrecognizable.

In the former GTA however, the Fallen were busy. That was one of the few city sectors still recognizable, because the Fallen had been inhabiting it. The creeping brush was over most, if not all, the buildings, but the constant scuffles from them when they came to the surface prevented plant life in some areas other than grass.

It was a playground for Sarah. These places held a mystery to them. What was it like back in its prime? How did the nature take back such a place? How long had it been before this city had been consumed? It was a place of wonder, and silence when the Fallen were not about. It was calm, serene…

But it also was a reminder of another time. A time Sarah just wanted to forget.

Ash stuck close, not having been out on a scouting mission in a long time. The freedom beyond the walls was something she almost had forgotten, and it was a nice change from the crucible. The only complaint was that it was early spring, and Traveler Damn it was cold. Sure she was dressed warm but she despised the cold with a passion. The cloud cover and the general gloom of the place wasn’t helping.

As they entered Fallen territory, Sarah slowed down her pace, creeping through a small gap in the wall the Fallen had built out of wreckage. Twisted metal weaved together through concrete with a side of vegetation was the scene until the two of them crawled out the other side onto the grassy street. She slowly crept forward (Ash begrudgingly staying behind) and peeked out for any Fallen in the immediate area. She then looked up at the building in front of them, barely standing, and the gateway to Sarah’s favourite sniping perch in the area.

“On my mark, we go as fast and as quietly as we can through here. No setting things on fire along the way.”

“You’re no fun.” Ash groaned.

“You’ll have plenty of time to set the Fallen on fire when we get there. Ready?” a pause, “Go!”

With the sureness of a cat and the speed of one, Sarah leaped forward and into the collapsed building. Ash followed suit, their capes flying back as Sarah lead the way across the roof tops, through the busted out buildings, sliding through small gaps with ease, until they came to the top of an old brick building overlooking a plaza where the Fallen were starting to gather again.

“They do this once a year. It’s like a damn tradition now. They come into one of these spots to pick a new leader, I snipe the candidates.” Sarah explained as she sat down and took her bag off. She pulled out a case and laid it on its side.

“Why not have their ceremony underground then? Or not out in the open?” Ash asked with a raised brow, even though Sarah couldn’t see it from behind her mask.

“Tunnels here are flooded. In case you haven’t noticed when we flew in, we’re right next to a huge lake. I think they called it Lake Ontario or something. I dunno. Anyways they also tried having it in the buildings one year. I found them out pretty quick. They weren’t too happy when a grenade brought the building the rest of the way down.

Ash laughed a little, “Guess they wouldn’t be. So these things just remain leaderless for a year or what then?”

“Hell if I know. Some Warlock tried to explain it to me, but I stopped paying attention. All I know is that every year Cayde sends me out here to make sure they don’t get a proper leader, and I get the job done. With you here however, we can cause a lot more mayhem and damage I think.”

Ash started grinning ear to ear, “You know that’s what I live for right?”

“I had a feeling. Here’s what we’re going to do.” Sarah opened the case and pulled out the sniper rifle. Ash let out a low whistle at the sight, “This baby, Borealis, is going to shoot the leaders. In the mayhem, you get in there and kill as many as you can, I’ll join you shortly after. I’ll leave it up to you how you do it. Just keep low, they’ll be looking for us.”

“I like it.” Ash looked around for a bit. She was right, there were already officers and commanders searching the area for the hunter that kept destroying their leadership and morale. She spotted another building nearby, partially collapsed, but full of crates she could easily slip between and into, “I think I got my hiding spot picked out.”

“Good. When you hear screaming of the Fallen, that’s your cue.”

Some time passed, and soon the would-be-leaders stood in a line for Sarah to see. Every time some Fallen grunt got too close, she would slice open their throats without much thought. They wouldn’t get the chance to tell their leaders where she was. They would never see her coming. Not this year, not for the past few years, and not for years into the future.

She would wait for a moment until the speeches in their tongue was done. She always struck at different times during the ceremony. It kept it fresh, it kept them on their toes. It let them know that no matter what they did, she’d always be there. A clever fear tactic, one that Sarah relished in. She hated these creatures. They deserved much worse than death. They deserved to have her hanging over them like a shadow, an angel of death that would come and destroy them.

She thought this, but every time she killed one, she couldn’t feel anything. It didn’t bring back what she had lost. It didn’t bring her any sort of satisfaction. It was frustrating, to say the least, but she kept doing it. What else was there to do after all?

Sarah took aim, finger ready on the trigger. As one of those Fallen raised his hands in the air to celebrate, she took the shot. He fell over, dead in an instant. Before they could react, another one was shot, then another. As the screaming began, looking for the culprit to finally try and put her down once and for all, something that they had never experienced happened. No one noticed someone had threw a little ball inside the crowd. It burst open, shrapnel piercing the Fallen around it. Their attention turn to the explosion, a deadly mistake, which allowed Ash to jump down from her hiding place, her body ablaze, Golden Gun ready to destroy the crowd. The first three shots were met with no reaction, and they were just turning around to see her fire off the next three. As they rushed towards her, her sword was drawn to meet them. They couldn’t see the wicked smile behind Ash’s mask. Maybe if they could, they would’ve seen how useless it was to challenge a Crucible veteran. There was a reason she was on Shaxx’s favourite list.

She was fast, deadly, the heat off the sword helping her slice through their bodies like there was nothing to it. The Quickfang that had taken down so many Guardians before was more than a match for the spears the fallen carried. She was accompanied by a flurry of bullets from Sarah, and together they decimated the area, with only a few fleeing for safety.

“Haha! Look at em run! That’s what you get for invading this planet and killing everyone you fucks!” Ash shouted after them. The fire had simmered and gone out now, but that didn’t mean Ash didn’t have more where that came from if the fools decided to try again.

“Well, I’ll admit, that went a lot better than I expected.” Sarah commented as she walked up to meet the other.

“What? You expected worse than that? You break my heart Sarah. I was only just getting warmed up.”

“Is that supposed to be a pun on how cold it is out here?”

“Don’t remind me how fucking cold it is out here.”

Sarah laughed a little, “Alright, we better get out of here before a wave of them come after us. We still have scouting to do.”

* * * *

Even though Sarah had been here many times before, there was always something new here. The Fallen often dug up something or other in the year passing. The GTA was once home to many corporations of that country and therefore it held many secrets still in the works of being recovered. The only problem was, after a stunt like that, it was difficult to do said scouting on the same day, which was why Sarah often took a week or more. This time however she had Ash, and she was quickly finding out that Ash didn’t have a lot of survival skills…

On the bright side, she did learn quickly. It was the wrong season to be hunting animals, so they made sure to bring extra food for themselves. Ash watched as Sarah pointed out all the marks she made on trees to help herself get around, the use of the sun to help be a compass, finding water that was safe, all sorts of things that were the basics. Ash quickly got those down, making a few marks on trees as practice as they went with her knife.

As the night quickly came however, and the temperature dropped, Ash could feel an old creeping sensation through her body. The combination of the dark and the cold pricked at a time she’d rather forget as well. She told herself on this mission she would try to kick it, but it was clearly not going to be easy. She found herself looking around, hugging herself for warmth. The sun was starting to go down, and already she could feel something creeping into her bones. Something she couldn’t explain seemed to seep into her body and make it frigid, a feeling she hated.

As they walked through a mostly pine forest, Sarah stopped in front of her and gave the ground a good kick to scuff up the duff layer.

“Ash, you see this stuff? Full of dead needles and shit?” Sarah asked. Ash wasn’t really listening. She was a lot more focused on the wind howling above them, the trees creaking against the force and cracking against each other. It was an unnerving sound, especially as the few birds that still hung around quickly took flight to get away. The cold that was seeping in now twisted her guts about, made her tremble slightly as the light outside was quickly growing dim. The clouds made the process faster and all the more daunting.

“This is really flammable.” At the mention of flames, Sarah managed to somewhat get Ash’s attention, “This is stuff that you do not set on fire, ever.”

But Ash didn’t hear the ‘do not’ part. At the mention of setting things on fire, she looked down, a fist full of fire in her hand, and threw it right on the duff layer. Though it was cold and the air wasn’t dry, the frightened hunter managed to start a fire hot enough that it started to spread along the duff. It would only be a low intensity ground fire, but it still wasn’t the best thing to have done. The fire however was comforting, it was warm, bright…

“WHAT THE HELL ASH?!”

Suddenly she felt Sarah pull on her arm. It was enough to startle her out of staring at the spreading fire. She let Sarah pull her away from it, but she kept looking back to the fire she wanted to be near.

They stopped a safe distance away, Sarah taking off her mask to show her just how angry she was. The red X painted on her face only made the expression more fierce.

“WHAT THE FUCK ASH? I TOLD YOU NOT TO SET THAT ON FIRE!”

“I HEARD SET IT ON FIRE!” Ash yelled back, taking off her mask as well.

“I SAID DO NOT! THIS IS WHY! IF YOU DID THAT IN THE SUMMER TIME YOU WOULD’VE KILLED US!”

“I DIDN’T DO IT IN SUMMER, SO IT’S FINE!”

“NOT THE POINT! YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO…!”

Sarah stopped yelling mid way when she finally looked at Ash. She was still furious and trying to defend herself yes, but Sarah noticed the other girl was trembling. If she didn’t have the mask o she wouldn’t thought Ash was just cold, but the look on her face…

She sighed, “Let’s just… just make camp near the river.”

* * * *

Ash didn’t let her eyes stray from their campfire. The flames danced in her brown eyes, comforting her and staving off the cold she hated so much. Sarah sat a ways away from her, taking her knife to a stick, peeling off the bark because she could. She kept looking at the other woman every now and then, who hadn’t said a thing nor moved at all. This wasn’t like her, and it made Sarah’s belly gnaw away at her. Ash was the one waking her up energetically in the morning, the one that made her laugh, even if just a little. She was always on the move. Not… not like this…

Perhaps there was still something left of those motherly instincts of hers. Those things she thought had died in her last life, somehow this other Guardian brought it out of her. It might’ve been because she was an overgrown child, or something in her eyes reminded her of a child Sarah had long lost. Either way, she finally spoke up.

“Why do you like fire so much?” She asked.

Ash didn’t move her head. She just shrugged her shoulders. Sarah narrowed her eyes a little, letting go of the stick, standing up and moving to sit beside her.

“Is it because you don’t like the cold? Or are you afraid of the dark?” she asked.

“…a bit of both, I guess.” Ash mumbled, “Fire’s warm. It’s bright. It has energy.”

“Something the darkness doesn’t.”

There was silence for a long moment. Sarah’s gaze turned to the fire, then back to Ash, trying to gauge where exactly her obsession came from.

“The walk to the city was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.” Ash suddenly said. Sarah raised her brows at the admission, but didn’t say anything and allowed her to continue. “The Fallen aren’t scary, the Vex aren’t scary, hell even the Hive and the Taken aren’t scary. You know what is scary though? When you wake up suddenly on a mountain with storm clouds over it. When your soon to be best friend tells you that you’re a Guardian and you need to get to the Last City. When you start walking but the snow is so deep, you have to pick up your feet to even have a chance of getting through it. When the blizzard starts, and you can feel snow pounding your face. When it gets dark and you can’t see where you’re going…”

Sarah watched as Ash brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, “I lost track of how many times I died. How many times I felt my body heat being sucked out of me. How many times I laid down in the snow face first, my fingers completely frozen along with my toes. My ghost would bring me back, try to encourage me to keep walking. My ears were frozen so many times. The snow hitting my face was painful, awful. I even fell off of steep ledges because I couldn’t see. That snow storm followed me all the way to the city. When I finally knocked on the door I remember Shaxx opening it then yelling for someone to help me because I was about to freeze to death again. Then… then I was taken to a room with fire. It was so warm… painful but warm. It was sweet salvation from being frozen again. Ever since then I never wanted to part with it.”

Sarah stared at her. She had no clue her obsession stemmed from that. It sounded like hell, and she wondered how long Ash had spent in that storm, trying to keep walking, trying to fight against the wind…

“I’m sorry…”

“No, I’m sorry. It’s… I thought I had my shit together. Guess not.”

To Ash’s surprise, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Honestly, Sarah wasn’t the best person for advice on this sort of thing, as she had her own issues to work out. At the very least however, she could show she was there regardless. The action brought a bit of a smile back to Ash’s face.

“Thanks Sarah. I’ll try to get better, I promise. Still gonna set everyone’s shit on fire though when we get back.”

Sarah laughed a little, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“So no more burning pine needles though.”

“No more burning pine needles.”

The two sat there content, wrapping themselves up in their blankets and dosing off before the fire went completely out. Tomorrow was a new day, and the start of events leading up to a moment that would solidify their friendship for as long as they lived.


	6. Ol' Killer Instincts

Their meetings went from the bar to a small lounge area near where New Monachy made its rounds. Late at night, no one would be around to stop the two Warlocks from taking over the couch and talking into the wee hours of the morning. There was always something new to talk about, some new horror stories at the hospital, or their adventures beyond the walls of the city.

“You’ve been working over time again Gale.” Cid commented as she sat down. She was still in a nurse’s uniform and her hair was still in a messy bun. Her eyes had those classic Gale dark circles underneath her eyes from the work.

She let out a small laugh, “What else is new? What about you Cid? Been taking time to breathe?”

“Me? Taking a moment to relax? When do I do that?”

She laughed, “Never. I guess we’re on the same page then.”

A few minutes of idle chatter came between the two before silence. Gale’s brow furrowed a little, seemingly in thought for moment.

“Cid, you’ve been here a lot longer than I have. I can’t help but notice I’m one of the very few Guardians who mingle with people. There’s no civilians up here other than the city militia and a few shopkeeps, and my patients keep saying they’ve never seen a Guardian up close before, and the doctors never worked with one. Why is that the case?”

The man let out a sound similar to a long breath through one’s nose, “It’s an age old battle. It’s been like that since I’ve gotten here, that’s for sure. It used to be there would be a bit more interaction with people bickering about whether that would be a good idea, but by the time I showed up, you’d hardly see civilians up here. There was an incident that sealed the deal on that, or so they say.”

Gale raised her brows, “An incident?”

“They call the story ‘Lilli’s Last Shot.’ Lilli was a Hunter who frequented the bars. She got real comfy about being a Guardian, and how Guardians could just be resurrected. She bullied her way around, sarcastic, snarky little thing she was. Every time someone in a bar would piss her off, she’d shoot them in the head with her gun.”

“What? And she didn’t get in trouble for that?”

“Not sure. Maybe people were too scared to tell on her to the Vanguard. They said the drunker she was, the more shots went off, the more she laughed. Scary woman from the sounds of it. Didn’t really have any friends, always responding in violence to anything that pleased her fancy. To her it was fun I think. To her, so long as they didn’t die, why shouldn’t she respond in such a way? Why shouldn’t she kill them over and over if they can just be brought back again?”

“That’s awful.”

“She was awful. She did it so much that she forgotten death even existed. Every time someone made a cat call, they were shot. Every time someone had the balls to fight her, they were shot. She didn’t care, it was fun, and it meant she would get her way. Of course, it had to catch up with her eventually.”

Gale was silent for a moment before coming to the grim realization, “Cid… don’t tell me that…”

“Oh yeah, I’m telling you it. They say one night a civilian came into the bar, her bar. They had a few too many, and had his eyes on her. She had a few herself, all riled up ready to shoot the next poor bastard in the face. The guy walked up to her, started to flirt.”

Cid made a finger gun, pointing it out the window and flicked it back when he said, “Bang. Shot his head off. She started laughing, but no one else was laughing with her. They all stood there in silence because they realized it before she did. That man didn’t have a ghost. There would be no reviving him. She noticed people weren’t laughing, the music suddenly went quiet, and they all stood there processing what had happened in silence. The people in the room all stared at Lilli, knowing who did it.”

“Oh my…. Traveler that’s terrible. What happened after that?”

“It’s a bit varied, but most people agreed she went crazy. She ran out of the bar screaming at the top of her lungs with a small mob chasing after her. When they went to investigate her room the next day, turned out that Lilli really lost it. Her room was a complete disaster, her things thrown everywhere and a few holes punched through the walls. They buried the poor bastard a week later, and by that time Lilli was long gone. Never found her. No ship was taken from the hangar, so she must’ve either stowed away or is somewhere out on the planet. After that some people started to claim she haunts places and stuff, but I’m not sure. Honestly, I think she’s out there, probably forcing herself to live out her day by day life, wondering where she went wrong. She’s probably a very sad woman, living all alone.”

Gale gave a nod, but she couldn’t help but notice the tone in his voice when proposing his theory. It almost sounded like he knew what that was like, but Gale didn’t dare to pry. When he was ready, he would tell her, she was sure.

“I wonder if she’ll ever be found, or if she’s even alive.”

“… who knows? I don’t think even the Traveler does. I do know though that your work might get talks to open up again for civilians to come up here. I know Ikora’s been pushing it hard.”

“I would like that, but of course we do have to be careful.”

She would know the best after all, that humans can be resilient in some ways, but incredibly fragile in others.


	7. History Lesson

Alexander was making headway in understanding the world around him. Though the life he had before his revival was a complete mystery, he was finally feeling more like normal. He knew the name of things and he knew what they were thanks to his very patient ghost. He still spoke in beeps and boops, but his Ghost would translate for him. As for making friends, he was treated mostly as the little brother, or the kid, by the other Titans. He had grown used to it, but it would be nice to be considered more as an equal to them.

In time, Zavala had said to him.

He was an oddity as well for being so curious about the world. Most Titans rather focus on the here and now, defend the innocent and such, but Alexander wasn’t satisfied with that. He wanted to know how things got to this point, the history behind the Last City, behind the place he woke up in. He had a desire to know, to learn more, to maybe even get the slightest hint to the thing that was bothering him the most.

Who was he? Who was that woman? What was he so desperately trying to remember that felt so important?

The libraries of course were the best places to go for such things. Seeing a Titan in there though of course was very uncommon, and honestly Alexander wouldn’t know where to start looking for info. Still it was worth a shot, and maybe the Warlocks would be kind enough to point him in the right direction.

As he opened the door, Alexander found himself awed at the sheer size of the library. Thousands of shelves extending back into the hall and all occupied by at least a few people in between each row. The sunlight pouring in from the morning sun lit up the entire place in a warm gold, the arches in the tall ceiling only adding to the magic and feel of the place. Even his Ghost, who was floating right beside him, was blown away. Most Titans wouldn’t step foot in here, but not Alexander. Alexander already wanted to dive right in, searching for the past.

As he wandered the halls in awe, he received quite a few strange looks. One of the Warlocks even came up to the Titan with a tilt in his head, confused as to why he would be here.

“Oi, you lost or something?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“No, we’re not lost!” Alexander’s ghost piped up for him, “Though we don’t know where to start in a way. We’re trying to learn more about the history of the city.”

He and a few other Warlocks looked at each other with puzzled expressions. One of them eventually just gave a shrug and said, “Hey, a Titan actually doing their homework isn’t the craziest thing that’s ever happened.”

“Alright then, if you’re looking for a General history, head down the row behind you and turn left. You’ll find a bunch of tables for studying purposes. On the third row of tables look to your left That whole shelf has a ton of info on City history. You can also ask someone over there if they’ll give you a lesson.”

“Thank you!” Ghost replied with a little nod. Alexander also gave a small nod, and a wave of his hand as thanks. Following the warlock’s direction they came to said tables. There were a few people here, but the one that stood out was another EXO with black and gold plates on his face, examining a sword with a hand lens. A sharpening rock was also nearby along with cleaning tools. His yellow optics seemed to be trying to read something engraved into the blade of it, but time hadn’t been the kindest to the inscription.

“Wow…” Ghost quietly said. The man seemed to have heard them, and looked up. He then wore a puzzled expression, just like the rest of the Warlocks who saw him before.

“Are you lost?” he asked

“No, we’re here to learn more about the city’s history. Alexander and I don’t really know all the much and we want to learn.”

“Alexander…” the man looked up at the other, tilting his head a bit before seemingly remembering something, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of you. You speak in morse code.”

It was hard not to when you were hanging around the tower and rumors spread like wildfire among the workers. People certainly knew of the strange EXO, and no one had a clue where he would go in this second life.

“- . - - . … / . . / - . . - - -“

“He says, ‘Yes I do.’ Say, you’re an EXO. We were also curious about EXOs, or us, or… well you know what I mean.” Ghost shifted his gaze over for a minute before looking at Cid, “Actually, if you’re not busy right now sir, could you give us a bit of a lesson? On the city’s history and on EXOs?”

The man thought for a moment, then gave a shrug, “Sure. I don’t know how well I’ll be able to explain it, but happy to help.” He stood up from his seat and then offered Alexander his hand, “My name is Cid by the way.”

Alexander nodded and shook his hand. Cid picked up the old sword and motioned for the two to follow him. As they walked, Alexander did wonder something. Cid’s hand felt different from other EXO’s who shook his hand, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. 

He shook the feeling off. He must’ve been imagining things.

They came to a door, and beyond it was a small study room with a projector and a wonderful view of the city. Cid walked around the table in the middle, placing the sword on it, then looking out the window at the Traveler hanging over the city.

“Alright, where to start? You know about the Traveler, right? I’m not trying to insult your intelligence I promise.”

“We sort of know. It’s the source of all ghosts, all light, and right now it’s dormant. It’s the reason Guardians exist.” Ghost answered.

“Ok, that’s a good start. You also know it began the Golden Age for humanity too, right?”

“Erm, yeah but Golden Age is a little vague for us. We just know it was a really good time for humanity.”

“Well that’s as good as a place as any to start.” Cid turned away from the Traveler and started pacing down towards the end of the room, “The Golden Age was the most prosperous of humanity. When they discovered the Traveler, they discovered Light. They discovered that there was so much more out there beyond their planet, beyond their petty wars, so much more they could achieve. The race to grow, build, advance, started to pick up and expand tremendously. Medicines got better, people lived longer. People began to expand to the outer reaches of space, colonizing planets, moons, wherever they felt like. They even began to build SIVA, a machine that could create and replicate any sort of matter; and the Warminds, powerful AIs built to stop anything that could threaten humanity. That’s also the time they created us, the EXOs.”

“Wow… and they also lived all over the planet, didn’t they? Not just in the last city.”

“That they did. The Last City wasn’t even founded yet. That came much later. This age lasted a long time, but it couldn’t last forever. Despite everything that humanity accomplished, it had grown in hubris. They were arrogant, thinking they were untouchable.” Cid paused and looked down at the blade, “They were wrong. Something out there, a lot bigger than humanity, had been on the move. A great darkness of some sort had been descending on them. We still don’t know exactly was it was, but SIVA, The Warminds, all of humanity couldn’t stop it. When they detected it, they tried to evacuate as many people as they could…” Cid sat down, looking up at Alexander, “They didn’t made it. By the time the ships were on their way, that thing was already on them, and destroyed a majority of ships in the asteroid field. It’s now called ‘The Reef’ because of all the ships that were destroyed there, making it a graveyard.”

“That’s awful…” Ghost looked down for a moment. Alexander took a seat across from Cid now. He asked his ghost something, and the little one turned to Cid and asked, “What happened to the other ships?”

“No one really knows. Could’ve been destroyed later, could’ve made it somewhere. Or they could’ve all been destroyed in the asteroid belt. It isn’t certain. Still, a lot of people think a few made it through as an explanation to where the Awoken come from.”

“I’ve never met an Awoken other than Zavala. I’ve seen them around, but not talked to one.”

“It’s not surprising. They’re good people though, just like you and me, just like humans, but they’re also now few and far between. There’s not many left who aren’t Guardians. The Hive saw to that.”

“The Hive? What did they do?”

“I’ll get to that part in a minute, we’re getting off track. Anyways, the darkness moved in closer, whatever it was, and destroyed things left and right, killing thousands of people. It finally came to Earth, where it and the Traveler apparently fought. The Traveler won, but at a great cost. As a last ditch effort to protect the survivors, it created the Ghosts to find the Guardians. They were each made for a specific soul, a soul that was deemed worthy of the Traveler’s blessing. At one time, there was millions of ghosts, and it’s estimated that there are hundreds more still trying to find the body of their Guardian. It’s hard to say. At the same time, someone else was moving in. You’ve probably heard a lot about them.”

“The Fallen, right?”

“You got it. As the first Guardians were resurrected, the Fallen were slowly on the move. This was the beginning of the Dark Ages. Humanity was scattered in little villages, clumps, all hiding from their great enemy. The First Guardians were not the valiant warriors you see today. A lot of them were tyrants, using their power and immortality to rule. They were a scourge on the earth, but as more rose up, the valiant movement began. There were people who saw these rulers as wrong, and began to band together. These Guardians were the first army to protect the people. They called themselves The Iron Lords.”

“The Iron Lords? Where have I heard that name before?”

“You’ve probably heard it in passing. They were Legends, all under the command of Lord Saladin. Interesting fellow by the way, good heart too.”

“Wait, you’ve met the leader of the Iron Lords?”

“Yeah, but we’ll get to that. Anyways, they began the liberation of the people. Around that time, Zavala and Shaxx were reborn. The Speaker also began to become an important figurehead as well. Together, they began to build the Last City beneath the Traveler’s shadow. The city was built to be a fortress against the Fallen and humanity’s enemies. After all, the Vex, the Hive, the Fallen, they were all on the move to snuff us out. At that time, there were millions of Guardians, all standing tall, ready to defend the city as a moment’s notice. The Fallen Houses tried to make a move on it, and they were simply annihilated. They retreated enmasse, victory was at the City’s hand. But we didn’t learn from our ancestors before us…”

“Oh no… no don’t tell me…”

“It was called The Great Disaster. At the time, the Hive had a massive presence on our Moon. The Guardians had grown arrogant, they thought themselves invincible. They decided to make a move on the Hive. The problem is, the Hive can kill us. They can trap our light, they can kill our ghosts, but those Guardians didn’t learn that until it was too late. They stormed the base, but so many were permanently killed. Even as they retreated, so many of them died. Crota, the Hive Prince, tortured and destroyed any guardians who were captured. Their numbers went from the millions, to the thousands. After that, 6 more attempted to storm the base in vengeance… only one came out, and she was forever changed. Have you met Eris Morn yet?”

“No, can’t say I haven’t.”

“Not surprising. She keeps to herself mostly. She was the only survivor, but she didn’t come out unscathed. She’s a wise woman, but she’s been through the worst kind of hell imaginable. After that, the Guardian’s numbers were cut even further. The Fallen Houses tried to make another move on the city. They managed to make a hole in the wall, and it was only through Shaxx that it held. It would’ve been worse had the Awoken who moved into the Reef not taken out another Fallen House on the move. After that, the Iron Lords found out about SIVA, and tried to get their hands on it to help rebuild what was lost…. but instead they met their demise. SIVA was corrupted and started to kill them off. They were decimated, with Saladin, Lady Efideet, and Shiro-4 the only survivor. After that, the Fallen kept moving on the city, wearing it down, poking and prodding. People were counting the days until they finally got through.”

“But… it’s not like that anymore. Something must’ve changed.” Ghost said. Cid gave a small smile.

“You’re right. Something did change. Some ghosts finally found their Guardians after a very long time.”

He reached his hand out, opening his palm to summon his ghost from transmat. Alexander seemed to light up a little. He hadn’t realized it before, but he sure did now. He was talking to a legend, a Guardian who made his mark upon the world.

“You… You’re…” Ghost started, but couldn’t finish what he was trying to say.

“It happened about 20 years ago. Myself and five others were reborn. They’re now my closest friends, as we led the way through to turn the tide. I remember waking up in the middle of nowhere, not sure who I was nor where I came from. The only thing I knew was my name, and Charon here was telling me I was a Guardian and to run for the last city.”

“Yeah, I remember all that.” Charon was now floating beside him, “We’ve certainly been through a lot together since then.”

“When we arrived, the place was a mess. The city was under duress. One thing led to another and then somehow we ended up going to the Black Garden and killing a lot of Vex, and a Vex Mind and stopped them from invading the earth.”

“What do you mean, one thing after another?”

“I mean literally we sort of ended up doing this on accident. It was a happy accident, but an accident. After that, the Vanguard thought of us as heroes for stopping a calamity, even though it was an accident. After that, Eris Morn came to the tower, warning us of an invasion from the Hive. With her guidance, we stormed the base, preventing their ritual to summon forth their Prince Crota. After that we had to go into their netherworld or whatever the hell it’s called, and killed him. Don’t ask, we’ll be here all day trying to explain their realms. But of course, after pulling that stunt, we should’ve know all hell was coming.”

“What do you mean?” Alexander’s ghost asked.

“While we were celebrating, and finally kicking the Fallen off our doorstep, Oryx, the Taken King and the father of Crota, was on the move. Suddenly a weird signal came from Mars. When we arrived it was a horror show. A race called the Cabal were all running from these things called the Taken. Again, we would be here all day explaining that one. All you need to know is that they’re bad news. After that we went speeding off to the Reef, only to find it empty. They had gone to meet Oryx after they detected his ship, the Dreadnaught. They managed to stop it in its tracks at Saturn, but at a great cost. It destroyed them. No one in that armada made it out. After that, it was up to us to destroy Oryx. We flew out there to make sure he wouldn’t get any further, and their sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain. Turns out he could make the Taken, and he was not someone to be trifled with. There’s a reason he was named King of the Hive and the Taken, and we had to take him down twice before his corpse was floating off into Saturn. After that, well…”

He paused, looking down at his right hand for a moment. Alexander noticed it, but didn’t dare to say anything.

“…. I found Lord Saladin. He heard about the things that my fireteam and I had done. He took me to the Fellwinter peak, showed me the home of the Iron Lords and told me what happened to them. After that, we took it on ourselves to destroy SIVA once and for all or at least shut it down. Believe me, it wasn’t easy. The Fallen had gotten to SIVA and were using it to upgrade themselves. Once it was finally shut down, the Fallen retreated enmasse, losing their last greatest weapon against us. I returned to Lord Saladin with the helm of one of his fallen comrades. He gave me this in return,” Cid took the sword in both hands, holding it up for Alexander to see, “and named me a new Iron Lord.”

The two of them gawked at Cid. Of all the people they could’ve had give a history lesson to them, it was a man who was a Legend, an Iron Lord, and who helped to decimate The Fallen Leadership and the Hive Leadership. Of course, they didn’t know about the Thorn incident, and they probably never would. All the same, they were both amazed.

“Wow Cid… I had no idea…”

“You’ve probably heard in passing some of this stuff. The Iron Lord thing is relatively new, but the rest of it happened over the last 20 years. I’ve been trying to study this sword for a while now. Haven’t made much headway with it though.”

“It’s amazing! You’re amazing!”

Cid laughed a little, “No, I’m just a guy who was sick and tired of letting those bastards push us around.”

“Still, that leaves quite a few questions. The Awoken, where did they come from? Where did the EXOs come from?”

“Those two things are still a mystery. If you want my thoughts on it, I’d say the EXO were once human. They had their souls or something transferred over into robotic bodies. Don’t tell Cayde this, but I had a look at some of his entries, and it seems to support my theory.”

Alexander chirped out something to his Ghost to tell Cid, and he nodded in agreement, “Alexander says can remember a tiny bit about someone, and how his voice wasn’t always beeps and things. Also, is it normal for an EXO to have a complete wipe? Like not even remember what simple things are.”

“No, it isn’t. It’s very common for guardians to not remember their past, but you’re a pretty special case. I’d keep a journal if I were you of progress.”

“We have been. Then what about the Awoken? What are they like? Where did they come from?”

“Again, another great mystery. No one really knows, and the last person that would know is dead. Well… maybe Petra knows, but the Awoken are quite secretive. I’ve given up trying to ask her about it. My Awoken friends have no memory around that either. They’re still people though, like you and me.”

“I see. Wow… I know I’ve learned a lot today. What about you Alexander?” Ghost glanced over to his partner, who nodded eagerly, “It was an honor to meet you Cid. Thank you.”

“No problem,” he started to stand up, “It was nice meeting you as well. Anything else you need before we go?”

“Actually, yes. Alexander wants to know more about where he was reborn. Do you have any maps of Lake Superior, or Ontario?”

Cid thought for a moment, “There might be one? We’d have to go looking for it.”

“Well, hopefully it won’t take us long.”

“When you know where to look, no it won’t. Follow me.”

They spent a good hour looking for a decent map of that area that was in the right era. When they finally found one, the print was so small Alexander needed a hand lens to read the towns there. The ones that stuck out to him were Sault Ste Marie, Wawa, and Chapleau. St Joseph’s Island and Whitefish Island also were familiar to him along with Lake Superior Provincial Park.

“Maybe that area was where you lived Alexander.” His ghost suggested.

“Could be,” Cid added. “If you had a strong attachment to that place, the names should be familiar to you. It might’ve been your home or a special place in your heart.”

Alexander nodded, being something to his Ghost who then translated, “He says he feels like it was his home. Wawa in particular. He feels like he knows himself a bit more now.”

Cid gave a nod, “You can rent out the map if you want, just ask the lady at the counter. Be careful with it though.”

“Really? Thank you so much Cid. For everything today. I hope we see each other again.”

“I’m sure we will. Take care Alexander and Ghost.”

Alexander walked out of there with both the map and a better understanding of the world around him. He hoped one day he could put the pieces together to that one memory he felt like he shouldn’t have forgotten, but now he felt a little closer to that goal. Even better, he met a legend today. One day, he hoped, he could be that Legend, make his mark upon the world. To do good, to protect the people, to be known as the one who stood against all odds, that was the kind of legend he would love to pass on.


	8. Dear You

    It started as it always does, light hearted, harmless, all these Guardian stories usually do. If you’ve been reading up till now, you know that it’s going to go to shit, and in the worst way possible. I’m that kind of story teller. I tell stories of tragedy, then of comedy to lighten the mood, then delve into said comedy to peel back the layers and find the raw pain below.

    This sort of story however I’m not sure if I’m fit to tell. I have never been a mother, I have never felt the darkness consuming me as I wallow in my own guilt over the years, but this is a tale that needs to be told: a story of a mother, her child, and her dearest friend.

    The trip was planned for the days already. It was a scouting mission in the wilds, to a new place that could eventually be set up as a small base of sorts if the conditions were right. Sarah wanted to go at it alone, but the Vanguard insisted on taking someone along. Naturally, she picked Ash. There really wasn’t anyone else she would ask. After the Pine needles incident she was getting better at not setting everything on fire and the two caused mayhem and misery for those damned Fallen.

    The trip was supposed to be normal, but the beginning of it was anything but. From the shadows of the hangar bay, Ash was watching and waiting, creeping forward when she was sure she wouldn’t be spotted. The sly smile that curled at her lips as she approached the EXO and human matched that little mischievous twinkle in her eye. Today would be a ground breaking day. Today she would have successfully pulled a fast one on the Vanguard, namely Cayde-6. Of course that was if everything went according to plan.

    So far it was. As he kept talking to Amanda, he seemed totally distracted from everything around him. It was perfect, but the tricky part was to get close enough to that cape of his. So far neither of them had seen her as she crawled beneath the steel shelving, her small size giving her an advantage.

    A little closer

    Just a little closer…

    Perfect, right here, she thought. They still didn’t see her under the shelving, and he was just in reach. She reached forward a little, with a small flame on her finger tip, and touched the bottom of the cape. It began a small fire, just as planned. The man was a gunslinger, so she didn’t think it would cause any real damage. She then scooted back a little with a grin and watched the magic unfold.

    “…So yeah, after that I had to go clean up that mess. I mean really, what would Zavala do without me?” Cayde was saying something before that, but it was only now Ash was tuning in.

    “Probably die of boredom.” Amanda answered with a small laugh, “Seriously he needs to… why does it smell like smoke?” she drifted off mid sentence and started looking around. At first she though some oil was on fire or a plane. Neither of those things of course would be good, but she didn’t see any flames in the bay.

    “Huh, that’s a good question.” Cayde also began looking around, turning enough so Amanda could see the spreading fire on his back.

    “CAYDE! YOU’RE ON FIRE!”

    “Oh so that’s why-OH SON OF A-“

    He immediately threw the cloak off and then started to stomp out the flame with his foot. Underneath the shouting from him muffled laughter came out from beneath the racks from the culprit. She was trying not to laugh, but the entire reaction and how it went down was too much. It was everything she hoped for and more. Even better, there were now witnesses looking on in shock.

    “Ok!” he shouted as the fire finally went out. The way he said it though made a bolt of fear shoot through Ash, “Who’s the wise guy? I’m not mad I’m just planning on getting even.” He called out. He wasn’t doing a good job at sounding like he wasn’t mad. No, he sounded like he was furious. Suddenly everything wasn’t so funny anymore. Did she just do something awful and not realized it? Cayde was almost never really mad, but he sure sounded like it. Maybe if she could slip away she could avoid the consequences.

    “Come on! Who’s the wise guy who needs to be taught a lesson in vandalism of important objects?” Cayde asked. He then paused and walked over to the shelves Ash was hiding under. The hunter bit her lower lip seeing his boots stop right in front of her. Surely he would look down, and then she was done for.

    Think fast Ash.

    She scrambled to her left then forward to get out from under the shelves. After that, she took off running as fast as she could away from the Vanguard that was now chasing after her and shouting at her. Honestly, she didn’t know if she would be able to outrun Cayde, but it was worth a shot. Maybe if she found Sarah or another Vanguard she’ll be able to bail herself out of this.

    She hoped.

* * * *

   “Excuse me, is this seat taken?”

   Sarah glanced up to see the owner of that voice. Here in the hallway near the hangars she sat on a bench waiting for Ash. Out the large window she had watched the traffic through the city, waiting on her friend to finish her little, quote on quote, project. She was certain it wouldn’t be long before she came running through the halls screaming.

    But first, it seemed like this woman needed to have a place to sit. The hallway was rather full of Guardians, all waiting on someone or something. Sarah had been keeping people of her bench so far. No one really wanted to sit with the broody looking hunter with a dagger on her hilt. This other woman however didn’t seem to be afraid. A gentle air was about the Awoken Guardian. Too gentle, Sarah thought, for someone who was supposed to be out there killing Fallen, Hive, Vex, and Taken. She wanted to push the woman away, tell her it sit somewhere else, but didn’t have the heart to. She just slid over a little, not saying anything. The woman sat down beside her, hands in her lap, gazing down the hallway past Sarah.

    “Who are you waiting for?” she asked, her flaxen hair shifting as she tilted her head.

    “My friend.” She replied. She was going to leave it at that, but her next word slipped out before she could, “You?”

     “Same here. I’m waiting for him to come back. He’s going to introduce me to some of his friends and we were going to watch a movie.”

     Sarah gave another small nod. There was silence between the two of them before the other woman spoke up again.

    “My name is Gale. What’s yours?”

    “…Sarah.” she replied absently, staring at the window outside.

    “Sarah hm? Nice name. How long have you been a Guardian?”

    Clearly this woman was insistent on having a conversation, a conversation Sarah neither needed nor wanted at the moment. Small talk wasn’t exactly her thing, and for the most part she preferred to listen no matter what kind of talk it was. She let out a small sigh, straightened herself up, and looked right at the woman. She was about to open her mouth to tell her to leave her alone, but a very familiar shriek filled the halls and made her stop before she could say a word about it. Instead…

    “Oh, well there’s my friend right on cue I gotta go take care of that we’ll continue this conversation never, bye.” All of that was said very quickly, and Gale didn’t really catch most of it. She would just watch the hunter spring up from her seat and rush down the hall to the source.

    Just as she suspected, there was Ash, leaping over people and slipping through the crowd. What she didn’t expect was for Cayde of all people to be right on her heels, missing his cloak of all things.

    “ASH WHAT DID YOU DO?” Sarah bellowed as she came close.

    “Explanations later! Sarah escape plans now!” Ash shouted back as she ran by and grabbed Sarah’s wrist to drag her along.

     “Why do I always come up with things?! Don’t you ever plan for an escape, ever?!”

     “That’s what I have you for!”

     “OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE-“

    Rushing down the hall they passed by a now rather confused Gale and back out into the main area. They pushed through the crowds and found the stairs leading out onto the wall.  Sarah was leading the way now, planning on getting back into the hangar from above. It was risky, but they could absolutely do it. Worst case scenario they fell off and their Ghost would revive them again.

    “You’ve got your stuff right?” Sarah asked as they opened the door to the top of the wall and jumped up on top of the structure.

    “Yeah! You think we can lose him long enough to take off?” Ash asked

    “I CAN STILL HEAR YOU, YOU KNOW!” Cayde shouted, still right on their trail as they ran across the wall.  Right about where the hangar was, the two of them ran to the side, vaulted over the railing and using their lights, leaped halfway down into the open hangar, just barely missing someone they really didn’t want to mess with. Commander Zavala had been right there, talking with Amanda while looking for Cayde. The two of them just barely avoided landing on his head. They scrambled away from him, trying to avoid their impending doom from pulling a stupid stunt like that when they heard something behind them.

    “CAYDE!!!”

    It turned out, what they thought was their doom, was their saving grace. Zavala was a lot more focused on the Vanguard who knew better than the two retreating women. Neither of them dared to stop and listen to Zavala’s fury, instead making a beeline for their ships so they could get out while they could.

    “See! Sarah escape plans always work!” Ash called as she climbed up into the ship, grinning ear to ear.

    “Sarah escape plan was very fucking lucky.” Sarah sighed out as she sat down in the cockpit.

* * * *

    Not wanting to deal with the aftermath of the cape incident, their decided to leave their radios off.

    Instead, their focus turned to the group of Fallen gathering again. In this section of a lost city The Fallen were just setting up shop to begin an Ether extraction. Ash had already gone ahead to attack from a different angle, leaving Sarah alone with her sniper to aim for the leader of the band. Ash would then take down the Servitor and then the two would clean up the mess.

    Up on top of the crumbling building she quietly took aim at her target below. She had to be patient, she knew that. Ash may be position already, but they had to wait for the right moment to strike. A part of her however wanted to pull the trigger and be done with it already. She wanted to see the brains spill out onto the grass, the confused and bewildered looks of the creatures who once thought themselves as the masters of the land.

    See, she wanted to enjoy gaining vengeance on the Fallen for what they did to her back then, yet she couldn’t. She thought about playing sick games with them, but never went through with them. She thought about mindlessly murdering them, not caring how many times she was killed in the process, so long as they were all purged. Yet she couldn’t go through with any those sorts of plans. She wasn’t that kind of person. At the same time, she sure as hell didn’t feel the least it sorry for them. It was nice to be on the other side of the gun, the one pointing at them. It wasn’t her, and the bastards deserved what was coming to them for a multitude of reasons.

    It still meant however that she felt nothing.

    She fired her shot, and the creature fell over. The rest all looked at the source, ignoring the hellfire rising up behind them. Sarah leaped down from her perch when the servitor’s outer shell broke beneath the force of Ash’s Golden Gun, instead using an auto rifle with a hand canon as her back up weapon. She didn’t feel anything as each one fell to her power. She just felt like she was on autopilot as she slaughtered the rest along with Ash.

    “Hah! Sorry Fallen, no Ether today!” Ash shouted in triumph. Sarah couldn’t see it behind her mask, but she knew she was smiling. Again she felt that twinge of jealousy deep inside her. She wanted to feel like that. It might even bring some meaning to these days that kept endlessly going.

    “Alright,” Sarah sighed, “That’s that done. Next target is a few kilometres up. We can rest near it.”

    “Sounds good boss.” Ash replied as she reloaded her gun, “And hey, no need to be all business you know. We can have some fun.”

     “… I know…”

    They walked towards the north, out of the ruined city and into the wilderness, taking turns marking the way as they went. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds and highlighted the drops from the recent rainfall in the area. It wouldn’t do much however to rid the dampness in the understory of course, but it looked nice.

     As they cut through the brush, they didn’t say much. Sarah’s thoughts were too deep into the past while Ash’s gaze remained on the world around them. The trees here seemed older than sin, thick, full of life. The understory here was lush, and she felt sort of bad for having to cut down some of it to get through. It was anything but silent here, and a part of her wanted to see where each sound came from.

    To Sarah however, the life of the place did not touch her. It had stopped doing that a long time ago. On her first missions she was happy to be out there, but now it was just another place, another reminder of her long life (or at least, it felt long) and how things aren’t changing, and reminder of better days. She kept coming out here into the wilderness mostly because she had nothing better to do. It was at least something she knew well, and she could try to extract her vengeance. It didn’t mean much however when the Fallen who did this to her were long dead, as she had been finding out.

    At a clearing full of wildflowers was where the two of them decided to stop. As Sarah scanned the world around her, Ash quickly got distracted by the many flowers here. She took her mask off and handed it to her Ghost, Chie, then started to pick the flowers, making sure the stems were long. Though Sarah had no idea why Ash was doing that, she supposed it was better than burning them. Chie seemed to happy as well to pick flowers with her.

    She sat down, putting her gun beside her. Her own Ghost came out of hiding and nestled in the grass beside her guardian.

     “Hey, you mind transmatting all of my stuff out? Might as well do some gun maintence.” Sarah asked. Her ghost gave a nod and transmatted out her Borealis and her handcanon beofre lying back down in the grass. As Sarah stared at the weapons she found herself sighing. Maybe later she woud maintain them. She didn’t feel like doing it now.

     So instead she put her mask ontop of the guns and laid down on her back, staring up at the sky. It was quieter here, calmer. As she reached up and took off her mask, she could feel the breeze brushing through her hair and across her face. She could hear Ash’s footsteps getting further away as she picked more flowers.

    The silence was at least calm. Calm enough for Sarah to close her eyes for a moment. Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to take nap here before continuing the rest of their trek.

* * * *

    “Momma?”

    Sarah woke with a start. When she sat up she found herself in a very familiar house. She had been lying on the leather couch that was in front of the window overlooking the forest. The oak coffee table still had its china cups with tea in them sitting on top, and there in front of it stood a little girl, less than 2 years old. She was still learning to properly stand, but she was using the table as balance. Those round blue eyes looked up curiously at her, not understanding why her mother was staring bewildered at her.

   “Ci… Cilka…?” she asked. A trembling hand slowly reached up towards the child’s cheek. To say she was shocked was an understatement. So many years had passed, this had to be a dream, this had to…

    Her hand touched soft skin, familiar skin. Her little black curls, her round face, her cute smile, they were all exactly as Sarah remembered. The child even reached up to her mother’s hand and held onto one of her fingers.

     “Is….” Sarah could feel her eyes sting despite her efforts to fight back tears, “Is that… really you?”

    “Momma…“ the child reached up with her free hand to try and touch her cheek in return. Sarah leaned closer to allow it, and her eyes grew a little wider at the touch. That was when the first tear fell, and when her throat would become like sandpaper.

    “Cil… Cilka.” She then quickly wrapped her arms around her child, holding her close, trying not to sob. “Oh! Oh my baby! You’re alive! It was just…!”

    Deep in her heart, she knew it was too good to be true. There was no way that the many years as a Guardian were all a dream. There was no way the Fallen invasion didn’t happen on this village. There was no way that she didn’t die back then. At the same time, a large part of her that mourned the loss of that life wanted to believe this was true. Her baby girl really was here, she really was holding her, and it had all been a horrid nightmare.

     “Momma… play.”

     Sarah reached up and tried to dry her tears. Of course, her baby couldn’t possibly understand why her mother was in shambles now. She was too young. She pulled back a little, forcing a smile on her face, “You want to play?”

    She nodded, “Play! Play!” Cilka then pointed outside, “Play!”

    “Alright, we can play…”

    Sarah lifted her up and stood up. The house was exactly like hers, a house she wanted to raise her child in. Blue carpet, soft blue walls, a old timely kitchen, a happy home. A house she had been ran out of, but that was now all a dream, right?

    She wouldn’t listen to her heart when it said this was a lie.

    She wouldn’t hear Ash yelling for her.

    She would instead put down her baby girl on the grass outside, and watch her for a moment. The second she blinked however, that little girl took off running towards the woods.

    “Cilka? Cilka! Stop! Cilka come back!” she called as she ran after her.

* * * *

    The flowers were pretty; Ash could certainly give it that. She wanted to weave a flower crown or a daisy chain for fun or something, but failed to realize she had no idea how. She drifted further and further away from Sarah, picking the best flowers she could find. If she was going to do this, she wasn’t going to half-ass it.

    “Oi, Sarah. You know how to make a daisy chain?” she called, not really expecting a yes but it didn’t hurt to ask. She paused after picking another daisy when there was no answer and frowned.

    “Sarah?” Ash asked, looking around the small opening, “Sarah?” she started to wander around trying to see if she was sleeping, “Earth to Sarah? Come in Sarah? Oh don’t tell me you’re a…”

    She froze, noticing the guns on the ground and a very confused Ghost looking around. Something wasn’t right. She didn’t see Sarah anywhere, and if she went somewhere, why would she leave her gear and Ghost behind?

    She could feel anxiety gnawing away at her belly as she knelt down to the floating Ghost, “Oi! Where’s Sarah?” she asked.

    “Oh! Ash! I was about to ask you the same question!” The Ghost looked up in surprise, “but if you haven’t seen her…. where did…?”

    “Sarah?!” Ash stood up fully now, bellowing out into the woods. “SARAH? SARAH WHERE ARE YOU?”

     Nothing. Absolutely no response came out. Chie looked around as well, and seemed just as stumped.

    “I don’t get it. Why would Sarah leave her ghost here?” she asked.

    “I don’t know but I don’t like it.” Ash muttered.

    “Well… Sarah had been a lot more down than usual. She never tells me anything, but I wonder if…” Sarah’s ghost started to say, but a scream interrupted her. They knew that voice, and there was no mistaking it. Ash didn’t know the name ‘Cilka’ but she did know that was Sarah’s voice.

   “We can theorize later. Tag along Sarah Ghost. Let’s go Chie!”

    The two ghosts kept close to the hunter as she made a run for the woods. The woman didn’t have time to make the trails with her knife, but did have an idea on how to mark the way back. In the understory it was still wet and the duff layer was mostly decomposed. Summoning forth a bit of light, she let the bottom of her feet burn hot enough to leave scorch marks as she ran.

    “Sarah! Sarah! Hang on I’m coming!”

    Through the trees and the brush she didn’t dare to stop running towards the sound. She leaped over any debris and ledges in her way, her Old Fashioned at the ready in case any Fallen decided to get wise and try to take her down. As she ran, she could hear another sound getting louder the closer she ran to Sarah.

    Water. Fast moving water.

    When she finally came out at the bank she saw the rapids rushing past the rocks towards a large waterfall. She could see Sarah there and a strange creature she had never seen before on a rock overlooking the drop. It was ethereal, wispy, almost like a spirit of sorts. This however sure as hell wasn’t a spirit of the Light. She could sense the malice in the spirit, dangling the tempting fruit in front of her friend, leading her closer and closer to the edge.

    “Son of a bitch, SARAH!” Ash bellowed as she rushed towards them. She went as far as she could on the bank then jumped to another rock on the river, then another. The spirit hung over the drop, grinning ear to ear. Sarah kept saying things like ‘Come here Cilka. Come back to mommy. It’s ok,’ as she got closer and close to the deadly fall. Ash clenched her teeth together as she made another jump to the rock just before the overlook. Sarah was one step away, if she didn’t do something…!

    Ash aimed her gun at it, fire consuming it and the rest of her. The Golden Gun rang out a deadly shot, smashing into the spirit, knocking it back, and shattering the illusion it had trapped Sarah in. Ash didn’t stop there. She made the final leap to the final rock, rushing up to it as she watched her friend quickly lose her balance from shock. Sarah had tried to turn around to see who fired the gun, losing her balance, and had begun to fall backwards.

    It was nothing short of a miracle that Ash managed to catch her arm in time.

    “TRAVELER, DAMN! THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?!” Ash shouted as she tried to pull her up. By then, the spirit had fled into the woods. Sarah looked up at her in bewilderment, then down at the waterfall. For a moment she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be pulled to safety.

    “Sarah…!” Ash could feel herself slipping forward, “Come on! I can’t lift you up by myself! You have to help me out!”

    Sarah’s eyes widened a little watching her slip. No, no one else should suffer the long fall she did, especially not Ash. She found a little light left in her to do a mid air jump and grab the edge with her other hand. From there she was able to climb back up with Ash helping her. The two of them huffed, both out of fear and for Ash, exhaustion.

    “Holy shit Sarah.” Ash huffed as the two ghosts rushed over to grant them back energy now that the danger was over. Sarah’s ghost floated right over to her, nuzzling her cheek, simply happy her guardian was alright. Ash however still had questions, “What the hell was that? What happened?”

   Sarah bit her lower lip, not really wanting to answer that. She didn’t really want to tell her she thought her daughter had been brought back to life and she had been chasing her through the woods. She didn’t really want to tell her she had cried over an illusion, and nearly killed herself because she was trying to coax her baby from trying to jump down into the river below.

   “Oi! Sarah! Come on! Tell me what-?”

    She stopped mid sentence when a familiar howl rang out. If Ash were to give her best guess, she was sure that the spirit had tipped off the Fallen and they were close. Sarah didn’t have any weapons either. She let out a low frustrated growl and stood up, gun at the ready, pointed towards the sound. She didn’t really know how many there were, and if they were smart, they would flood in at once before she could shoot them all. Not to mention the fact she had to protect Sarah…

    “Hey Sarah, when I start shooting, get to the bank on the left side. Follow my footprints back to the field, they’ll be easy to spot. I’ll meet you there.”

    Sarah raised her brows, “You…?”

    “Hey, I got this. You get into trouble, I come up with the escape plan. Makes it even.”

     Sarah bit her lower lip, clutching her ghost close to her, “You be careful alright?”

     “I always am.”

     That was a lie, but there wasn’t any time to point it out. When the first Fallen came through the trees they were met with a quick end before they could aim their weapons. Sarah made a beeline to the bank of the river. On the other side she could see many more were coming. Without a gun, she couldn’t do too much against them. She had one knife and what powers she possessed which wasn’t enough. Hunters were not as proficient as Warlocks in using their light as magic, Sarah was no exception. She did however, have one gift she could give to Ash to make this easier.

    Take aim first. It didn’t make sense, but she had to take aim first as the captain came storming out into the open. Then she would reach into the void, past fear, past visions of her own death that didn’t faze her anymore, and pull back the bow. Her enemies always had a wonderful look on their faces when the beautiful violet bow manifested and was already loaded and aimed. Once Sarah let the shot fly, it hit the captain square in the face. It then exploded into a small orb of the void, grabbing anyone in its reach and slowing them down with a tether.

    “Be careful Ash!” she shouted as she ran back into the woods. She couldn’t see it, but Ash had been just as surprised to see that little trick, but now she was grinning ear to ear. Unafraid now, she ran forward, holstering her gun and taking the sword off her back, onto the right side of the bank and charged into it. They stood little chance. As they fumbled in the dark, Ash ran forth and cut their head off, slicing into them without mercy and without fear. When the void finally dissipated, there were still a few left, but Ash had been ready for that. The sword was sheathed again, and the gun was back in her hands. They all looked at her, firing their weapons like mad in some attempt to stop this woman’s rampage. The energy hitting her body hurt, but she shrugged it off, lighting her body ablaze with her own light and her Golden Gun blowing off the heads with no resistance. The fire caught on some of the fur on Fallen armour and started to catch the rest of the Fallen, burning their bodies.

    Ash was smiling, very satisfied with the result. She stood there for a moment, admiring the flames before she finally remembered something.

    “Sarah…!”

    She just barely was able to leap across the fast moving river. She bolted down the makeshift path, hoping to find her at the end of it. Her gun was ready to go just in case, but she hoped she didn’t have to use it. The entire way she was hoping nothing ran into her and she made it back to her gear without a problem.

    She burst into the clearing, finding her friend fully geared up, weapon at the ready. She had just been lowering her Borealis, most likely seeing Ash through the scope long before she showed up.

    “You alright?” Ash asked as she came to a stop in front of her.

    “I was about to ask you the same thing.” Sarah replied.

    “Oh, I’m fine! Tired as hell, but fine! I didn’t know you could do that.”

    Sarah let out a small sigh of relief, “Good.” She sat down in the grass, “I’m glad you’re alright.”

    “But you’re not.”

    Sarah looked up at her. Ash couldn’t see her face, but she was certain Sarah didn’t expect her to keep prying. Ash sat down right in front of her with a frown. Those brown eyes stared right at Sarah, waiting for an answer. When she didn’t she let out a small sigh.

    “Look, I told you my sob story about the blizzard. I did it because you are my friend and I knew I could trust you with it. I’m not going to go around telling everyone. You don’t have to be tough as nails all the damn time Sarah.”

    Sarah said nothing for a moment. Her ghost started to nudge her cheek gently, trying to encourage Sarah to speak. The little ghost had been trying for years to learn what bothered her Guardian so much, perhaps with a little help, Ash could make the breakthrough.

    Ash let out a sigh, “Look, I’m not going anywhere. When you decide to tell me what’s wrong, I’ll be right here. I say though we make camp here and then go stake out the next place in the morning. I know I’m not going to be able to take out another horde like that for a while.”

    Sarah gave a slight nod, “…alright.”

* * * *

    It was another silent campfire. It was Sarah who was staring intently at the fire this time. Ash was figuring out how to make the flower crown. She had begun to get the hand of it and since she had a lot of flowers, she was able to weave together a thick one. This crown she was making however wasn’t for her.

   Once the final flower was weaved in, she reached over and placed the crown on Sarah’s head, who looked up in surprise. She reached up, finding the flowers in her hair, and looked at Ash with a puzzled expression.

    “What? Looks nice on you. It’d look nicer if you didn’t paint that X on your face.”

    Sarah managed to crack a smile, but not much more. There was a moment of silence between them before Sarah finally spoke up.

    “I… I used to make these all the time… for my daughter…”

    Ash raised her brows, turning in her seat to face Sarah better. A daughter? That was a new one. She had no idea Sarah had a daughter.

    “She was… she was the most precious baby girl. I’d sit her on my lap outside and watch her pick the flowers. Her hands were so small she could only hold my pinky. I was so proud of her when she learned how to walk.”

    She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Her voice held more strain, like her windpipe was closing from grief. She was smiling though, thinking of the better times with her little girl. Ash smiled at her, and moved over to sit beside Sarah.

    “She sounds cute. What was her name?”

    “Cilka.” She replied, reaching up to her eye and trying to stop the tears before they started, “She was… always so happy. Even after the Fallen took everything and we were all in that camp together, she found a way to be happy, and to make everyone else happy. I would take her to play in a field much like this one, and she would pick flowers and give them to me and members of the camp. She would play in the baskets, turning them over and hitting them like drums. She would bounce up and down, lose her balance and fall over, only to get back up again.”

    Sarah felt Ash drape her arm over her shoulder. Hearing about Sarah’s daughter warmed her heart, but she knew deep down something must’ve happened. Sarah mentioned the Fallen running them out of their home and into a camp of sorts. She must’ve been alive during the Dark Ages or during the City Ages when villages were still around, which meant Sarah wasn’t all that old in comparison to other guardians.

    Ash almost didn’t dare to say it, but she felt like she needed to ask, “What happened to her?”

    “….I don’t know.” Sarah answered honestly, “I… the camp was stormed one day by the Fallen. I took her and ran, they followed. They chased us all the way to a waterfall. I was out of options, I jumped down hoping that we would somehow survive the fall. It was better that than to let the Fallen kill us. I… I don’t remember much after that. I remember it being dark, freezing cold. I remember making it to shore, pushing the bundle my daughter was in on the bank. I remember her crying and… I guess after that I… I died. Hypothermia, blunt force trauma, something got me after I pushed her to shore.”

    “Oh… oh no… Sarah I’m so sorry.” Ash slid her arm to wrap it around her friend. It was awful, awful what happened to both of them. If someone didn’t find that baby quickly after Sarah had jumped, she probably would’ve died too. Honestly, the chances of someone finding her were slim if Ash thought about it. Which meant of course Cilka most likely died. Even if she didn’t die then, she was probably dead now from plain old age.

    “It’s not….” Sarah started, biting her lower lip, trying to keep herself together but failing miserably, “Why did the Traveler revive me? Not her? She was just a baby, she should’ve been given another chance, not me! Why in the bloody hell did that damned thing bring me back, but not my baby!” she was shouting now, not even realizing it as she reached up to dry her tears, “And what fucking cruel trick was that?! Bringing her back to me like that! I thought it was real and this nightmare of being a Guardian was the dream! It wanted to believe it was her, that I didn’t lose her, I thought it was! But no! No that fucking thing, whatever it was, was just trying to kill me! Stupid thing! Doesn’t it know I can’t die! I’ve tried! I’ve tried so many times just so I didn’t have to live on knowing I failed my baby girl! I tried so I can maybe be with her! Why the hell am I here Ash?! Why?”

     “STOP IT!”

    And Sarah did stop. She felt herself being pulled into a full on hug from her friend.

    “You…. stop being so stupid! Stop it! Do you think she’d want her mom to be feeling like this? Do you think she’d want her mom to throw her life away like that? Would she want you to feel like you shouldn’t be around?”

    “I… no…”

    “That’s right, she’d want you to be happy. She’d go and pick flowers for you and tell you ‘Mommy, cheer up, it’s going to be ok.’ She’d tell you to stop thinking like that. She’d tell you to fucking say something next time you felt like that…” Sarah could feel Ash trembling now as she spoke, quickly getting choked up. She was crying now too, Sarah could tell, “and she would pick you more flowers. She would then tell you that you did your best. You didn’t fail her, you saved her damn it, and you’ve been saving so many other kids by doing this.  All those kids in the city as happy and normal because you come out here and do this every day. All those people are living amazing lives because of you. Isn’t that worth living for? Isn’t that worth being a Guardian?”

    Sarah didn’t say anything. Instead she wrapped her arms around her friend and buried her face in her shoulder. She finally started to cry freely, letting out the years of anger, frustration, despair, and grief she felt. Ash held her through it all, letting her know with just that she wasn’t alone in this. She had her. She might be a prankster, she might be a pyromaniac, she might not be able to take most things seriously, but this she did take very seriously. She would be there whenever Sarah needed a hand. That was a promise. That was certain.

   Ash reached up to dry her own tears. Now wasn’t the time for them. Now was that time to let her friend cry it out, and then try to cheer her up.

    “It’s going to be alright. Next time you feel like shit, hit me up alright? We’ll talk it out, grab a couple of drinks, have some laughs, maybe pull a fast one on Cayde, or Cid. Oh, maybe we should try Ikora, nah, she’d kill us.”

    Sarah let out a tiny laugh through the tears, making Ash smile. That was supposed to cheer her up a little after all, “It’d be a challenge.”

    “I think we’d be up for it, so long as you make the escape plan.”

    “I might be able to arrange something.”

     There was silence after that, the two holding onto each other and watching the fire burn down. Sarah quietly calmed down, drying her tears. It was only after she had fully calmed down did Ash finally say something.

    “Hey Sarah, let’s go home in the morning. We can tell Ikora about this jackass of a spirit and go give some Glimmer to Cayde for a new cape. After that we can get a bit of a vacation and just relax for a bit.”

   Sarah cracked a smile, “I’d like that. And Ash….”

   “Yeah?”

   “… thank you. For everything.”

   Ash smiled a little, “Any time Sarah, I mean it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Spirit thing will be much more fleshed out and explained much better, but that will come later. There ae other stories to get through before that


	9. Stella

    This is not a story of a Guardian. This is a story of a normal human being, a civilian. This is still an important story, despite it not being as humorous or as action filled as the others. After all, it’s a rare chance to see the life of a civilian within the Last City. Even more so, an important civilian who would later use her voice to raise up the hopeless. She was not a Guardian, never would be, but she would become just as strong as one in her own way.

     Her hands were showing signs of age as she opened the door to leave the office for the day. Stella Henrick certainly felt older than she really was that day. 53 years old, still teaching students after 28 years. These days she was a highschool teacher, though for a time she taught Grade 3. She rather teach the teens now, for as much trouble as some could be, you could really make friends with many of them. In fact, she was going to talk to a friend who was once her student that very evening.

    Brushing a stray strand of grey hair from her face, Stella stepped out onto the sidewalk. It was the time of day where the sun was in the crack between the massive Traveler hanging above her head and the wall. She remember being a little girl, pointing up at the Traveler in the sky, scared it would come crashing down on her. Somehow though, for so many years, it still hung there, dormant and silent.

    “Guardians! Assemble!”

    Stella paused and glanced over to some children playing in a yard across the streets. Four kids in total, three standing in front of the fourth, holding swords and raising them high in the sky with smiles on their faces. It was a common game for children now, playing hero, driving away the darkness. Stella smiled a little, glad to see them playing instead of cowering like it had been 20 years ago, before the 6 Lights had been resurrected. She didn’t want to remember those times, they were the same times she lived in as well after all, so she certainly remembered them intimately.

    Down the street she walked to a park in the middle of a busy section of the city. The calm sun illuminated the many people returning home to their families or wherever else they needed to go. On the tallest building just in front of her, the news channel was playing loud and clear. Crossing the street she walked on a small cobbled path beneath the maple trees and along the soft grass of the park. As far as Stella was concerned, it would’ve been a nice spot had that damned screen not been there, but there were many other places in the city.

     At least the screen was showing good news. VICTORY AT IO SECURED: VEX ARE ON THE RUN! By the time she crossed the park and the next street over, the screen would be reporting names of new or recent Guardians, current campaigns, and so on.

    Further in she finally came to a bus stop that would take her straight to the wall and the Tower. It was very rare people were allowed inside, but Annabelle had been able to secure a pass for her to visit. She would not be there often, didn’t have the time or need, but it made it easier to visit her student and learn more. The libraries there were stuffed with information, the Guardians all interesting and full of knowledge, it was little wonder people like Annabelle enjoyed being there.

    Though she still wasn’t sure how Annabelle managed to do her job. It must be hard to be the therapist for so many Guardians who had seen such a hell.

* * * *

    “Stella!” the small woman waved her over to their normal meeting spot overlooking the city. On top of the wall they had set up a tea table for two and would sit there and catch up. Stella smiled at her and sat down beside the woman, placing her hands in her lap. From a distance, they seemed to be like a mother and daughter duo, but they held both a friendship and a student/mentor sort of partnership

    Stella quietly brushed the wrinkles out of her skirt before speaking, “I hope you’ve been doing well.”

    Annabelle nodded, “Yeah. It’s been a pretty calm week. Nothing too horrible or gruesome. I even had time to catch up with some of my favourite patients.”

    “And? How are they faring?”

    “Wonderful. They’re all either back in the field or doing something they love. I’m really glad I got the chance to find them and catch up.”

    Stella nodded with a small smile, “Good.”

    “What about you then?”

    “Not to eventful, though I was able to give your speech to one of my students.”

    Annabelle suddenly looked appalled, “Don’t tell me some brat…”

    “Oh yes. They even brought in the Thorn Incident as ammo. By the time I was done telling him the stories however, that seemed to have shut them up for good.”

    “Oh yes, bring that up while completely forgetting the fact that man is the fucking reason why this city is still standing. Ugh! See, this is why civilians and guardians should interact more. Damn consensus…” Annabelle muttered the last part under her breath. Stella let out a small laugh.

    “Still as passionate about that issue I see. It’s good to see you haven’t lost much of your spirit.” Stella paused for a moment before asking, “Annabelle… how have you been doing yourself? After hearing so much tragedy, it must get to you.”

    “I’m fine. I’ve been taking time for myself and breaks and such. I call it my happy time.”

    “I see. I advise however to keep an eye on yourself, alright? You know you can also tell me things. You know I’ll keep stories a secret.”

    “I know…” Annabelle sighed a little. There was a short silence between them as they both pondered the next thing to say. Annabelle would speak first, “There’s one story that really bothered me the last two weeks. A hunter came to me with a friend by her side. I’d been seeing her for a while at that point. She had tried to fling herself off a waterfall after a spirit that tricked her into following it. That day in my office well… I must’ve hit a nerve or something. She just… broke. She was a tough lady, but that day she cowering on the floor, bawling her eyes out. She remembered her past life. She was a mother, and to protect her baby she jumped off a waterfall to save her from the Fallen. She died, but she didn’t know the fate of her child. She kept saying that she shouldn’t have been revived, her daughter should’ve been instead, things like that. Her friend had to calm her down.” Annabelle looked to the Traveler, “I think I understand better now why it was better for them not to remember, but still… I didn’t know what to do other than let her cry it out. Still bugs me that she just seemed to break in half like that… and I couldn’t do anything. Makes me wonder just how many Guardians are hiding their pain.”

    “I’m sure many are Annabelle… and you know you can’t help them all.”

    She sighed, “I know…” Another pause, before she seemed to light up with an idea, “Stella, you should sing.”

    The old woman raised her brows, “Eh? Me? Oh honey, my singing days are past me.” Stella laughed a little. When she had been younger, she had wanted to be a professional singer. She had the voice for it according to many. The problem was that she never really had the chance growing up with the darkness looming over her head.

    “Oh please, I’ve heard you sing. You sound like an angel. That voice of yours could be the thing that lifts up this place.”

    Stella laughed a little again, “Depends on if they give me a chance my dear.”

    “They have to! Look we can go to Ikora. You come with me, you sing, you blow her away, you could get a job being the singer here!”

    “Hon, I doubt they’ll want a singer who’s over 50 years old.”

    “You don’t look a day over 40.”

    “I think you need your eyes checked.”

    “For real though, Stella you could help these people out.”

    The old woman sighed, “Annabelle, I can’t just abandon my students either. I’ll consider it, but you must know my odds are not great even if I do try to apply.”

    Annabelle smiled, “Maybe, maybe not. Maybe you just need the right opportunity.”

    And Stella would get that chance in a way she did not expect. When the world fell apart, when all seemed lost, Stella would take the stage after 53 years and finally sing for a crowd who needed that voice.

    For now though, the teacher just laughed, “We’ll see what happens. Instead why don’t I tell you about an incident in class yesterday. When I say incident I don’t mean anything bad of course.”

   Annabelle would sit and listen to her old mentor, but she also wished the woman would take up the mantle. A voice that sings of hope, that sings of heroes, that was the kind of voice that was needed around here.


	10. A Winter Stroll

Winter was met with a variety of attitudes from guardians. For one thing, the work slowed down since it was harder or the enemies to march in the thick snow. Some people resented the snow and cold and worked in different, warmer places until it passed. Even if they didn’t resent the snow some people left just to have something to do. Other relished the snow with a smile and enjoyed it while it remained on the streets. Cid was one of those people, happily wearing a sweater and looking out the window at the gentle snowfall outside. Later on he’d run outside and enjoy it, but right now he was a lot more concerned with finishing this coffee he didn’t want to go cold.

“Cid!” he turned as a voice called out to him. Running down the hall towards him, Gale somehow seemed even smaller than usual in her long winter coat with the fur and scarf around her neck. Her flaxen hair peeked out from under her winter hat as did those golden eyes of hers, looking up at him once she finally got to his side.

“Hey!” Cid smiled at her, “Going to enjoy the snow as well?”

She nodded, “I love the snow! I was actually going to take a walk through the city today and then visit a few people in my hospital. Did you want to tag along?”

He gave an expression similar to raising ones brows, “Uh, sure? They’re not gonna give you hell for taking me with you?”

They really weren’t allowed in the city. Gale was an exception due to her work. As for him, the Thorn incident still weighed on his heart, and naturally he was a little nervous at the idea of leaving the Tower and going through the city. Logically he knew he would be fine, he wouldn’t hurt anyone around him, but an old anxiety he couldn’t kick was still there.

“It’ll be alright. You’re helping me carry things,” she winked. It seemed she already thought it through, “And you haven’t really seen the city, right? This would be a good chance to do so! There’s lots to see! What do you say?”

Looking at her smiling up innocently at him, excited to go out in the snow and walk the streets, he couldn’t really bring himself to say no. It would probably be good for him anyways, and if she was there, it wouldn’t be so bad. Heck, he had been needing to get out for a while now. The only thing he had going on was research into the Vex, a dry and headache inducing subject.

“Alright Gale, I’ll come with you.” He replied with a small smile.

“Yes!” she jumped up a little, “Meet me at the base of the tower, we’ll take the bus to the Square.”

* * * *

Beneath his hat he gazed at the city around him in awe. He had only seen it from a distance and the hazy vision from that witch, but being in the city was completely different. Walking on the sidewalks, watching the people walk the streets, the children playing in the snow at the park, the traffic rolling through, the life in this city was something to behold. He didn’t dare drift away from Gale’s side, but a part of him was already so curious to explore the streets and the places and little shops. The sound of a busker band playing their cello and violin filled the streets with even more cheer and life.

To think, this was what he had been defending all along, and he never even knew what kind of place it was. It was also strange to think that he was partly responsible for the life here, bringing the Fallen to a kneel and chasing off the Hive after Crota and Oryx were killed.

He remembered distinctly the Thorn, and how close it had been back then. If the Vanguard hadn’t stopped him back then, Traveler only knew what damage would’ve been done. He was even more grateful now that the nightmare was over, and he was able to see this now.

“It’s something, isn’t it?” Gale asked. He nodded in response, “Even though I come through here every day to get to the hospital, it still never ceases to amaze me.”

They stopped for a moment, watching the children try to form a snowman, “To think, this is their daily lives. Some of them don’t seem to realize how lucky they are. I suppose though when you live like this every day of your life it’s easy to forget the alternatives. Still, every time I come through here I feel happy people can live like this.”

Cid gave another quiet nod. It was certainly a good reminder that there was still something to protect. They might have shoved the darkness off the City, but they weren’t in the clear yet. There was still a lot of work to be done.

“Alright Cid,” Gale tugged on his sleeve a little bit to get his attention, “We have to stop at the toy shop real quick before we get there. Come on!”

He followed her down the street and around the corner. A sign that read, JOHSNON IMPORIUM, was the greeting into the small homey toy store. As they opened the old wooden door, an old time bell rang out alerting the man behind the counter. He was old, balding, but he seemed to light right up when they stepped through the door.

“Hello there! How can I…” the man stopped mid sentence when Gale took off her hat and brushed the snow off, “Oh! It’s you! You’re that lovely nurse helping my wife with the stomach bug!”

Now that he mentioned it, Gale did recognize the man, “Paul Johnson, right?” she asked, walking up to the man after kicking the snow off her boots, “Your wife was Helen Johnson?”

“Yes! Yes it was. Gale, right?”

She nodded, “That’s right. How is your wife now?”

“Oh!” the old man was now beaming, “She’s doing wonderfully now! Back to her old self again! Haha! And who’s this may I ask?” He motioned to Cid, “A Guardian friend of yours perhaps? I didn’t see him in the nursing halls.”

Gale nodded again, “Yes, he’s a fellow Guardian and Warlock.”

Cid found himself awkwardly walking beside her and giving the man small nod as a response. It felt a little weird talking with civilians, he had to admit. It was mostly because he didn’t know what to talk about, but it seemed that Gale had done it long enough to grasp it.

“Well sir, it’s an honor to meet you. Paul Johnson.” The man raised his hand to shake.

“Cid. Just call me Cid.” He replied taking the hand and giving it a gentle shake.

“Of course! Now, what brings you two here then?”

“Getting some toys for the kids at the hospital.” Gale replied.

The man raised his brows, “Really? Well that’s awful kind of you. Tell you what, since it’s for a good cause and how much you helped my wife, and you both for keeping that wall standing, I’ll give them to you.”

Gale raised her brows, “Sir, please! You don’t have to do that!”

“I don’t, but I want to. Those kids deserve a little something to brighten their days, don’t you think. Don’t worry, this isn’t gonna hurt me.” He winked at her, that old man sort of wink when they’re being insistent. The two Warlocks looked at each other, before Gale gave the man a bit of a bow out of respect.

“Thank you sir.”

“Paul is fine, and thank you.”

* * * *

“That was really nice of him.” Cid commented when they got closer to the large white building.

“It was.” Gale agreed. They were both holding a box of stuffed animals, enough to go around to the kids that were bed ridden or in the hospital for a long time.

“Do people always give you nice things?”

“Not always, but sometimes they do. One time my Ghost and I had to calm down a hysterical father because his child was in surgery. I got a box of chocolates from that one. I certainly didn’t expect it, I never do, but it really is nice to be appreciated.”

Gale stopped in front of the glass doors into the hospital. She elbowed the Wheelchair button to open the door for both of them to go through. It was everything Cid expected, white, sterile, and faintly smelled of cleaner. What he didn’t expect however were the three nurses gathered together, talking about something. It must’ve been a slow day if they were standing around doing nothing. Not a bad thing he supposed compared to what could be happening.

They all brightened up when they saw Gale walk through the door. All three of them were human, all girls, all had their hair done up, and all wearing that blue nurse’s uniform. They quickly rushed over to see both of them.

“Gale! I thought today was your day off!” one of them said.

“It is! I thought I’d bring these though for the kids.”

“Awwww, that’s so cute and nice of you!” Another one said.

“Hey, who’s your friend? Is he a Guardian?” The third one asked.

“Yep! He’s a Warlock like myself.”

The three of them let out a sound of amazement, and immediately went to swarming the poor man. Gale suddenly felt really bad for Cid who seemed to want nothing more than to drop the box and run out the door away from these people.

“So you fight of the darkness right? Got any stories?” one of them asked

“Uh…”

“You have a ghost right? I’ll bet it’s super cute like Gale’s is.” Another one inquired.

“Uhhhh…..”

“You’re so tall. Are you Gale’s boyfriend or something?”

“AND WITH THAT WE ARE LEAVING.” Gale suddenly announced, putting the box on the desk and grabbing Cid’s arm, pulling him out from between the three of them.

* * * *

“I am so, so sorry.” She mumbled when they were in the safety of the elevator.

“It’s fine. Are they always like that?”

“Nurses are the worst gossipers. Anything out of the ordinary comes through they jump on it. Poor Winter was overwhelmed for weeks.”

“You’d think their jobs would be exciting enough.”

She laughed a little, “Believe me, on a slow day it’s incredibly dull. Nothing to do other than gossip and chat. We’re not allowed to discuss the patients of course, but believe me when I say they grind on me for more ‘adventures’ and such. They’ve asked me if I had a boyfriend yet about 20 times now.”

“How the bloody hell do you deal with those people?”

Another laugh, “You get used to it.”

There was a small ‘ding’ as they finally reached the right floor. Walking out into the hallway Cid could see doctors and parents of patients sparsely placed along the walls. He could feel a bit of his heart sink. He hadn’t even seen the kids, but he didn’t need to in order to feel the grief from so many here.

“They put you here? This is where you work?” he asked

“Not at first, but yes. It’s a… well, you can imagine what kind of job it is. But, we’re not here for that. We’re here to put some smiles on their faces.”

The first room had no one in front of the door. She used her elbow to move the handle downward and slip inside. There was a kid in bed, his head wrapped in gauze with several wires monitoring his brain waves, searching for any signs of odd activity. He looked up and started to smile so bright at her, and the mother also began to smile at them.

“Gifts from the Guardians!” Gale called in a sing song voice, putting the box down. Cid did the same thing beside her box. He watched her summon forth her ghost, and let it fly over to the child, who seemed to light right up at the sight.

“Hey Kyle!” the Winter called, “How’s it going?”

“It’s going great! Did you and Gale fight any bad guys today?” the boy asked.

“Not yet, but when we do, you’ll be the first one to know! How about a little fist bump for me eh?”

The child, probably around 8 years old, lifted up his fist and Winter gently bumped into it. Both child and ghost laughed, and Cid couldn’t help but smile at the sight. It must’ve been really amazing for these children to have a real life Guardian as their nurse with a Ghost who could become their friend.

“Alright,” Gale laughed a little as she rummaged through the boxes, finally pulling out a foam sword and shield, “I know you said Dawnblades and Sentinals were your favourite, so I thought you’d like these.”

The kid gasped, “Really? That’s awesome!” He took them from Gale’s hand, holding the sword in his right and the shield in his left. “ROAR! I AM A GUARDIAN! YOU SHALL NOT COME HERE DARKNESS!”

Gale giggled a little. Cid noticed the mother, who seemed so weary, was smiling as well. It must’ve been hard to be the parent of one of these children, to see your kid go through hell. He did hope that this kid could get released soon and go on to have a normal life.

“Make sure you hold the sword up high when you do that.” Cid finally spoke up, “Let them know it’s a mistake to mess with your light.”

The kid finally turned a looked at him, “You’re a guardian too?” he asked with an awed look.

Cid nodded, finally coming a little closer to the kid and away from the door. He held out his hand and summoned forth his own ghost. Charon looked around nervously at first, unsure of how to talk to a child.

“Uh, hello there!” he finally said.

“Wow! So cool! Wait, do you use the Dawnblade?” the kid asked.

Cid nodded, “I do.”

“Awesome! An EXO, and a Dawnblade user!”

Cid laughed a bit, noting that Charon floated up to be beside his head, “You want to know a secret about the Dawnblade? When you summon it, you have to feel a burning in your heart, a passion, a strength of sorts to protect the people you care about.”

The child eagerly nodded, holding up the foam sword, “One day, I’m gonna protect the people, just like Guardians!”

“If that’s what you really want, then you’re already a Guardian in your own way.”

Another excited gasp, “Really?”

“Really. Now eyes up Guardian, you’re going to be great one day.”

The child and mother thanked them both as they picked up the box and left them. Cid leaned over to Gale once they were back in the hall.

“Did I do I good job?” he asked almost nervously.

“Are you kidding me?” she laughed a little, “You saw Kyle’s face! You made his whole day. You did awesome Cid.”

The rest of the day went in a similar fashion. Each child brighten right up seeing the Guardians and the Ghosts take the time to give them a gift. Down the hall they met a small child, who couldn’t be more than 4 years old, if even that, trying to learn how to use her new leg. She of course got excited to see Gale and the box of toys. Gale put them down beside her, kneel down and opening her arms for her to walk over.

“Come on Nina! Show me how good you’ve gotten with your leg!”

The girl giggled and started to hobble over to the Awoken. It was a short stretch, but she was rewarded with a hug from her favourite nurse for doing a good job anyways. Cid then reached down into the box and pulled out a grey teddy bear, with a red hat and scarf knitted onto it. When Gale let go of the child, he knelt down and offered the bear to her. They way those blue eyes lit right up and her smile melted his heart. She took the teddy bear from him, then quickly took his rebuilt right hand and gave it a kiss, like she’d seen a princess do for a knight. That’s what Guardians were after all: valiant knights who protected the city.

“Uh…. thanks?” he managed to say, not really sure how to respond. Gale let out a little ‘aw’ at the sigh. The kid seemed happy with that, and started to hobble back to her father and the nurse that was escorting them.

There were no toys left at the end of the day, and the sun had begun to set. They walked on the streets with light hearts and smiles on their faces.

“I can see why you like working with them.” Cid commented.

“After a while they sort of become like your children. It has days like these, where you get them to smile and laugh. It makes it all worth it. I’m happy they finally placed me there.”

When they reached the park again, they stopped to listen to the buskers that were still there, playing one last beautiful medley. Their cases were full of glimmer now, and the two of them couldn’t help but to tip them a little as they went by.

“You should come with me again some time.” Gale said to him as they walked towards the bus stop, “You really made an impression on them. They really liked you.”

“Keep the fangirling nurses off me, and I think I might.” He teased, “But for real… I would like to come back and visit them every now and then.”

“You have more stories about fighting bad guys. You are one of the 6 Lights after all.” Gale gently smiled at him. With all of their talks, it was natural she knew of his work, even if she didn’t know about the Thorn, “It means a lot to them to know that their heroes take the time to see them after all.”

He laughed a little, “I guess so huh?”

The bus finally pulled up and took them to the wall. Once they were inside, they parted ways. They would tell their friends about today, and plan to come back to see them soon.


	11. Fireteam North part 1

Winter still had a hold on the Tower when the discussion would come up again. It was quite the debate on what to do with this strange Titan. Alexander was a wildcard essentially. He hadn’t mastered any sort of technique, he knew next to nothing about the outside world, didn’t even know what water was when he first was resurrected. At the same time the EXO held some sort of instinct. It was an instinct to protect his comrades, to fight on and use what he had at his disposal. He also had an instinct to help people, even if he didn’t have a single clue how to do that.

“His knowledge is greatly improving.” Zavala started, “Last I talked to him he got a lesson from our friend Cid on the history of the city and recent events.”

“The fact still stands that we have no idea what is going to happen if we send this Titan on a mission. I still don’t know if he’s ready. He doesn’t even partake in the crucible to train himself.” Ikora mused.

“The Crucible is where equipment goes to die, and he already told me his reason.”

“And that is?”

“He does not want to fight against his fellow Guardians. He doesn’t like the idea of causing other Guardians pain, despite them being able to raise themselves.”

“Pain is necessary to learn. If he is afraid to cause pain in a friendly match, will he be afraid to cause pain to our enemies?”

“I don’t believe it’s like that….”

“I think you guys are all missing the mark here.” Cayde, who had been silent up until now, finally spoke up, “What we have is a total blank slate trying to carve out his own way in this crazy world. The fact that he’s training means he wants to fight and able to wield the light, right?”

“Yes, but…” Ikora started, but Cayde cut her off.

“And the fact that he’s getting good at it, wants to help people, and even took a trip to the library to find answers, means he wants to be out there learning about the world and protecting the people in it, right?”

“Indeed, it would suggest that. He also had been asking for a while if he was ready for a mission.”

“So why don’t we give the guy a chance then? Take a gamble.” Cayde took his knife out from his holster and started twirling it in his hands, “We send a couple people with him on an easy patrol mission, and see how he does. If he does well, we’ll crank up the pressure a bit more.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Ikora raised a brow.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“So the question becomes, who’s going with him?” Zavala asked.

“I would say Cid since he’d be a great teacher, but he’s busy with his normal fire team right now. I do however have a Warlock itching for fieldwork, especially since her other job is slow at the moment.”

“Other job? Oooooh, you mean that Gale lady. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a Warlock make quite the entrance she did.” Cayde commented.

“Then naturally we should have a Hunter accompany him. Any suggestions Cayde?” Zavala asked.

“Well uh… oh boy.” Cayde stopped twirling his knife, “See that might be a tricky one. Most of them have gone south or off scouting or probably will be a horrible influence on the kid.”

“Can’t be any worse than Red.” Ikora commented.

“Oh it can be. I do have one that doesn’t have much to do at the moment and would be a great teacher, it’s just a matter of if she’s willing or not.”

“Find one Cayde. Once you do we’ll set up the mission. An easy patrol, a scouting mission of sorts.” Zavala told him

“Easy right? And then you can keep an eye on them from the comms and everyone is happy. Right? Right?”

* * * *

“Absolutely not.”

Cayde had been half expecting that answer from Sarah when he found her in a bar. The other half had been hoping against hope that she wouldn’t say no, but as predicted she didn’t seem all that willing to go on this mission.

“Come on, it’s a really easy mission. Just sit on a cliff, make sure he gets the basics, make sure he doesn’t die in a horrible way, then come home and tell me how he did.”

Her eyes narrowed as she turned on her stool to face him. He was a bit surprised she didn’t just toss her whiskey in his face, but then again that would be a complete waste of a drink. 

“I am not playing babysitter to some over grown kid.”

“Think of it this way, if something happens, you have a nurse on hand to help clean up the mess.”

“A nurse? Really?”

“Oh don’t worry, this one can fight. OratleastIhaven’theardanycomplaints…” he mumbled the last part of it out.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. Look I’ve got 20 glimmer riding on that this kid is going to do great and with you, he’ll be just fine.”

Sarah raised a brow at him. Judging from the small twitch under her eye she was pretty close to simply punching him in the face.

“Ok look, if you do this, I’ll buy your drinks that night.”

She looked down at her glass, then back up at him, “Tonight, and that night and if you don’t keep your end of the bargain I’ll make sure to help Ash set your stuff on fire, again. Not that cape though.”

“Ok fine, deal.”

The two shook on it, and drank the rest of the night away.

* * * *

“It’s an interesting problem, but I certainly am not qualified to give advice on it. I don’t know anything about EXO.”

As Gale walked down the hall with the two other Vanguard, they asked if she could give any advice on helping out Alexander. She was a nurse who dealt with humans of course, not robots, and really couldn’t give much help.

“If something like this were to happen to a human, what would you recommend?” Zavala asked.

“Rehabilitation, time, patience? I’ve told you all before the brain is a complex matter, and I’m sure in an EXO it’s even more complex. He’s already seeking out answers, I would simply let time run its course.”

“I trust you’ll give an honest report when this is over?” Ikora asked.

“I will. I don’t want him taking on any mission he’s not ready for.” Gale replied with a sure nod. As they entered the training room they were just in time to watch a Titan running towards the wall, using a Striker ability, screaming at the top of his lungs, and crashing through it. They didn’t even need to look to know who that was. Instead they looked left to see the EXO they were just talking about with a hand over his face, looking like he was suffering from a severe case of second hand embarrassment.

“And that is now added on the list of things not to do.” Ghost piped up. Alexander’s ghost was always right by his head, acting as his voice since he lacked one. Both of them glanced up after a moment then stood immediately at attention seeing Zavala and Ikora.

“At ease Guardian.” Zavala told them, and they both relaxed their stance.

“It’s nice to see you Commander. What uh… what brings you here?” Ghost asked in Alexander’s place. They had gotten to the point where the Guardian would only speak when he had something important to say, and the little Ghost would translate for him.

“We’ve noticed that you’ve greatly improved in your training. We’ve decided to give you a test. If you agree to this, we will send you on a mission. It should be simple, but it will help us gauge the sort of missions you can be put on. You won’t be going alone of course, Miss Gale Glassford over here and a Hunter will accompany you.”

Zavala motioned over to the Warlock, who walked to be beside him and gave the man a bow, “It’s nice to meet you Alexander.”

“Ah! Nice to meet you too, Miss Glassford!” Alexander gave an awkward bow in return. She merely giggled a little.

“It’s alright. Just call me Gale.”

“We will be monitoring this mission Alexander. If you do well, you will be put on more challenging tasks.” Ikora added.

“That is only of course if you accept. What do you say?” Zavala asked.

Alexander and his ghost looked at each other. It was hard for both of them to keep their calm when they were being given their first mission. It took everything in Alexander not to jump up for joy. A real mission! With a fireteam! Sure it might be simple, but who cared? It was a real mission outside these walls!

The two nodded at each other and turned to see the Vanguard, “We accept. We’ll be ready to depart at your command.” Ghost announced.

“Well said. We will contact you when everything is set up.” Zavala nodded, “Eyes up Guardian.”

Ikora and Zavala both took their leave, but Gale decided to stay and learn about the Titan she would keep an eye on. She could help but giggle as the Titan started to jump up and down with joy, his ghost joining him. They even danced a little in sheer happiness.

“You’ve been waiting for this for a while now, haven’t you?” she asked. Both of them jerked their heads towards her then suddenly propped themselves straight, clearly both a bit embarrassed that she was watching. She simply laughed

“It’s alright. It’s good to be excited. I’ll make sure to help you out. Don’t worry, it’ll be a walk in the park. Speaking of walks, would you like to walk with me? I’d like to know you better before we go.”

Alexander nodded, “O-Oh Of course!” his ghost stuttered, “Lead the way Gale.”

As the two of them left, Red, who tried to head butt a wall, finally crawled out of the wreckage wondering what just happened.

* * * *

Flying was something Alexander had to learn. His teacher had been patient, and he had gotten good at flying around the city. It was fun, he didn’t crash, and his teacher was impressed. Still, the idea of flying away from the walls was a bit nerve wracking.

Gale was a huge help overcoming that fear. She learned how to boost his confidence enough to face the incoming mission away from home. With just a few kind words, she helped him walk into the hangar when he got cold feet. It was there they met Sarah Navarra for the first time since she hadn’t bothered going the briefing. Cayde had already filled her in the night before. She raised her brows at them, recognizing the one girl from the halls, and assuming the other was the Titan she was supposed to look after.

“You guys are coming with me on this patrol?” she asked with a raised brow.

“I believe so. Sarah, right?” Gale asked.

“Yeah. Gale and Alexander then I’m presuming?”

“Yes. It’s nice to meet you Sarah.” Alexander’s ghost spoke for him. Sarah raised a brow at him.

“You don’t talk?” she asked.

“- . - - - - / .-. . .- .-.. .-.. -.- -/”

“He said, ‘Not really.’ For some reason his voice box only speaks in morse code and we’re not sure why.” Alexander’s ghost spoke up for him once more.

“Great, a child, and a mute…” Sarah mumbled. Alexander started to beep out ‘Who are you calling a child?’ but she spoke up before he could finish it.

“Alright enough talk, time to get this show on the road. Load up.” She told them, walking off to her ship. Alexander let out the equivalent of a sigh.

“Don’t let her get to you.” Gale told him as she came up beside him, “You’ll have plenty of chances to prove her wrong.”

They all loaded up into their ships. As the cockpit closed up, Alexander found himself squeezing the controls a little to try and calm down. He was nervous, naturally, but he had to get himself together.

“Sarah Navarra, City Hawk 521 ready for launch.” He heard first.

“Gale Glassford, City Hawk 429 ready for launch.” He heard second. He looked to his ghost and gave him a nod.

“Alexander-1, City Hawk 723 ready for launch.” His ghost announced.

“Fireteam, as you know this should be a simple mission, but keep your guard up out there.” Zavala’s voice was now over the radio. Alexander could feel a pit where his stomach should be, but kept his eyes on the opening door ahead, firing up the engine like he was taught.

“Guardians, you are now clear for launch!” the announcer called.

“Good luck Guardians.” Zavala told him.

That feeling when he shoved the craft into gear and launched was unlike any other. It was exhilarating when he first launched sure, but not like this. Feeling himself flatten against the seat, pulling the aircraft up away from the walls once it was free from the hangar, he could feel a smile coming to what was the equivalent of his lips. He could feel his whole body surge with energy as the ship met with the freedom of the wilds, and in front of him two other ships that would lead the way to his first mission.

“Hey, you didn’t crash. That’s a start.” Sarah commented.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ghost asked.

“Sarah, don’t be mean.” Gale chided.

“Hmph. Look it’s not far from here. Let’s just go in, survey stuff, and get out. Cayde owes me Whiskey for this.” Sarah told them.

“You were bribed into this?” Gale asked

“I work alone usually, and if I don’t work alone, I work with one other person.”

“You could at least try to enjoy yourself.”

“Guys, please. Can we keep the bickering to a minimum?” Alexander’s ghost asked.

“Whatever.” Sarah sighed. Alexander didn’t need to be there to know she was rolling her eyes.

The rest of the ride was mostly silent, with the only interruption being Gale asking if Alexander was doing alright. Admittedly he wasn’t quite as excited knowing that this hunter had been bribed into helping them, but he still did look forward to this. Sarah signalled when they came to a clearing for them to land in.

All geared up, they all came out of their ships and landed in the snow. The Titan was wearing normal red and white gear for beginner Titans. Sarah was clad in black, red and white, and Gale of course was black and gold. All of them had their guns at the ready, their bags on their backs for what was supposed to be a simple mission. 

Of course it wouldn’t be. When was it ever?

Sarah led the way, following her radar through the woods with Gale and Alexander close behind. They would walk up the trail, noting how Sarah marked the trees with her knife to find her way back, even though they left footprints in the snow.

“Lesson number one kid. Mark your trails. The worst thing out here is to get lost. Least this way you can find your way back.”

I’m not a kid, for the last damn time. He thought to himself, but it was useless trying to say that. His ghost was tucked away in his bag for safety, and he didn’t want to pull him out just for that.

Past a small clearing, up the hill they went. The sun offered little warmth between the conifers and the dormant deciduous trees. When they reached the top of the gentle slope they looked down to see what they were supposed to be observing. The Fallen base in the snow was bustling with activity, more so than usual. In the abandoned houses covered in snow they all moved quickly, seemingly preparing something or other. Something was off…

“See these bastards? The reason we’re keeping an eye on these guys is that this is a new settlement. Another reason to worry is that there’s a village not too far from here, one of the few I know about.” Sarah told him quietly as she knelt down.

“That’s weird though…” Gale added, “In the briefing Cayde said there weren’t that many here. But look at them…”

She was right, there were many here, more than just a small camp of Fallen to observe. It was suspicious to be certain. Even Alexander felt like something was off about this.

“Could be possible they got it wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time.” Sarah mumbled.

“Still, this is way too many…”

Alexander felt something tingle on his spine. He looked up and over his shoulder, feeling the metal on his back crawling. He couldn’t explain it, but something was there, watching them. He slowly stood up, looking around for the source.

“Hold up,” Sarah held her hand up, looking around and making note that Alexander was already up and looking for something, “You feel that?” she asked.

Alexander took a step, looked down at his feet, then along the ground. He noticed a set of tracks in the distance, ones that just seemed to stop right at a spruce. Both girls stood up behind him and started to look for the same hint. By that time his mind was already made up, and he ran at the tree with his shoulder, shaking it, and knocking loose a Fallen who fell face first into the snow. Sarah rushed the Fallen before it could gather its bearings, and plunged her knife into its chest, silencing it before it could cry for help.

“Alright, not a bad catch kid.” Sarah commented, “Lesson number 2 by the way, check the bodies for useful things.” She started to rummage through the pockets and pulled out a piece of paper. When she unfolded it, she raised a brow.

“Uh… the fuck is this?” she mumbled, and Alexander looked at it just as puzzled. It was some strange Fallen writing, then a picture with rectangles with some Xs on it. Gale wandered over and looked over her shoulder.

“My best guess would it’s a plan of attack. You said there was a village nearby, right? Those Xs could indicate where they’re placing bombs and such.”

“So they’re planning to blow it up. Ugh, typical Fallen bastards…” she mumbled the last part as she stood up straight. They couldn’t see Alexander scowl when he heard that, but they did hear the little pumping sound of his gun.

Sarah raised a brow, “You want to go fight them?”

He nodded. The girls looked at each other, then back at him.

“Look kid, we can’t just go willy nilly in there and fight them. They will murder us several times over.”

“So we don’t go in there willy nilly and we come up with a plan.” Gale spoke up.

“The way Ash and I usually do it is I snipe from above and she helps clear up the rest below.”

“You have your sniper with you?” Gale asked.

“Always do.”

“Ok so instead of two, we set up three points. I’ll take left, Alex takes right. When you shoot, I’ll throw a grenade in there, and Alex can charge in. After that, we start shooting whoever is left.”

Sarah looked at Alexander, “What do you think kid? You up for it?”

He nodded, even though he was still annoyed she was still calling him a kid.

The Fallen were all gathered around one leader. A rally of sorts, Sarah didn’t know nor cared. As she aimed her gun right at their head, all she could hope or was to be wrong about both of these people. If the nurse and the kid really knew what they were doing, this should go smoothly, if not, she would have to bail their asses out. She was sure she could, but it would be a pain.

The leader raised his arms, she could see both of them were in position, and she shot the leader’s head. As he stumbled to the ground, the grenade was thrown into the center and went off, instantly vaporizing anyone in its radius. Anyone remaining stumbled about, grabbing their weapons, looking for the source, only to be met with a speeding Titan crashing into them. His fist cracked the first one’s jaw, and his gun took down the rest of them.

“Well, shit.” Sarah mumbled, raising her brows beneath her mask. She was about to say something, but could hear a distant shriek of other Fallen who were starting to come out of the woods from the other side. Alexander leaped back, weapon at the ready.

“Knew that was too damn easy!” Sarah mumbled as she started to run down the hill out of her perch. Gale was also on the move, sailing over to his side for a better spot to shoot at the army heading their way.

Alexander wasn’t afraid. Somehow he felt like he fought like this before, and with Sarah and Gale at his side, his chances of living were pretty high this time.

The three fired at the crowd, Sarah launching a grenade that started a wall of burning void magic to help stave them off. Gale stood beside Alexander, shooting right by his side, watching the Fallen slam into the snow, losing their heads or limbs. Sarah charged into it, leaping over the crowd and trying to get to the back.

“Get in there!” Gale shouted at him, “I’ll go from the side. Shoot in the air if you need help!”

Alexander gave a firm nod and charged forward into the fray while Gale circled to the left. He barrelled through the Fallen, knocking over anyone in his way as he made a beeline to the back. He could see a cape flying amidst the chaos along with a larger Fallen, another captain if he were to hazard a guess. He would see Sarah being slammed into the snow by some of the grunts and the bigger one pointing his canon right at her head.

No.

Not on his watch.

He didn’t care that her ghost would just revive Sarah, nor how she treated him earlier. He was not going to let them kill her.

He burst through the crowd, summoning forth his light so naturally in that moment when he had struggled before. On his arm was a shield made of the void. That shield would stop the blast in its tracks. He would bash it into the skull of the captain, the sickening sound of his skull breaking filled the air as he fell over. Alexander wasn’t fazed, he simply stood there, ready to defend his teammate.

Sarah scrambled to her feet. He couldn’t see it, but she was dumbstruck. She had been certain she was going to die there, but once again Alexander surprised her. He then started to bash the shield into the Fallen that dared to stick around and try to fire at them.

“TRY TO BASH YOUR WAY OUT OF THERE, I’VE GOT AN IDEA!” they heard Gale shout over the crowd. Alexander then began to carve a way out through the Fallen crowd, with Sarah covering whatever he missed. Once they were in the open, both of them leaped away.

Sarah didn’t know what Gale was planning, but she knew how to give her a hand. Aim first, pull the bow, let the tether fly. She had never seen it grab so many Fallen before. She had also never seen a Warlock do what Gale did right afterwards. Both Alexander and Sarah watched as Gale soared over the crowd, raising a hand in the air and summoning forth a beautiful but deadly orb made out of pure Void light bigger than herself. She threw the Novabomb down upon the remaining Fallen who in an instant were simply dissolved into nothing. Even better was the graceful descent onto the snow, and Gale walking over to them like nothing happened.

“You’re a…. a nurse?” Sarah stuttered out.

Gale reached up to her helmet and pulled it off, revealing a smile, “Part time.”


	12. Fireteam North Part 2

Walking back to the ships, the three of them were in a much better mood. Sarah could at least admit she had been wrong about them, in a good way, and they all held the satisfaction that they stopped and invasion on a village. What was supposed to be a patrol turned into a full fledged mission that they simply blew out of the water.

“Now we just got to explain to Zavala how that one went. Surprised he hasn’t checked in on us yet.”

“Maybe he was waiting for a good time?” Gale suggested. Alexander was lagging behind them, taking in both the world around him and the fact that the three of them just pulled that off. He also wasn’t paying much attention, and upon entering a small clearing, found himself tripping over something and falling face first into the snow.

The girls stopped and looked at him. “Oi, watch it Alex.” Sarah scolded him. At least she wasn’t calling him a child anymore. He stood up and started to brush the snow off when he looked down to see just what he tripped over. He felt his heart sink as he knelt down and dusted some of the snow off of it. Both Gale and Sarah came closer as he picked it up, Gale raising a hand to cover where her mouth would’ve been beneath her helmet.

What Alexander had tripped over was a dead ghost.

“What…. what the actual fuck…” Sarah mumbled. They all looked at each other, then all three summoned their ghosts to take a look at it. Gale took it out of Alexander’s hand to get a better look.

“Poor thing.” Sarah’s ghost spoke up first. She floated over as Gale started to pry some of the metal apart where it was most heavily damaged at the back, “I hope it didn’t feel anything.”

“Who knows, I hope so too.” Alexander’s ghost spoke up next, “First an entire army of Fallen, and now this…”

“It was shot.” Gale mumbled, finally pulling a bullet out from its casing, “By someone who uses kinetic weapons.”

“The Fallen don’t use them, so that leaves a human or another Guardian…” Winter spoke next.

“What the actual hell…” Sarah mumbled, starting to look around. She didn’t notice it the first time, but she noticed it now. In the snow were indents like footprints. They were buried, but still there. “Oi, guys I’ve got something. Hey Ghost, check of there’s another set.”

The small ghost floated to the other side, finding similar indents, “Yes, there’s footprints over here too. Judging from the indents, they go the same direction yours go Sarah.

Gale seemed to be in thought, trying to figure out what happened her just from the ghost alone. Alexander noticed something however, enough that he even spoke up to his Ghost to translate.

“Hey guys, why are there only one set of tracks?”

Sarah raised her brows, “Shit… you’re right.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Ghosts never leave their Guardians. If this Ghost was shot by something either it was alone still looking for its Guardian or…” Gale stopped midsentence as a grim realization came over her.

“Or what Gale?” Alexander’s ghost asked.

“Or… a Guardian may have murdered their own Ghost.”

“What?!” Alexander’s ghost backed away to be a little closer to Alexander, “Why would someone…?”

“We don’t know that for sure, but still…”

“We can follow the tracks and find out.” Sarah suggested. They all nodded, putting away their ghosts and following Sarah’s lead. It was a short walk and at the end of it they came to a cliff, and a grim result. Looking down the face they could see the body of a hunter, partially buried in the snow.

“Son of a bitch…” Sarah mumbled.

“I’ll take a look.” Gale told them, “Keep an eye out for Fallen.”

“Be careful.”

Gale jumped off, floating safely down near the bottom. She brushed the snow off the body and turned it over, taking off the mask. It was clear she had been dead for a while. As she took off the hood she could see frozen blood on her head where she had cracked it open.

“Any luck?” Sarah called.

“I’m not an expert by any means in post mortem examinations, but I’d say she fell to the bottom and cracked her skull open, most likely broke her neck too.” She shouted back up, “I think she might’ve thrown herself off.”

“Killed her ghost then killed herself? What the fuck?”

“If we follow the tracks where they came from, we might find out. You two go on ahead, I’ll catch up.”

Alexander and Sarah nodded, retracing their steps back to their original spot and going in the opposite direction. As they walked up the hill, they finally hear Zavala’s voice through Sarah’s ghost.

“Fireteam, what’s your status?” he asked. Sarah stopped, summoning forth her ghost that he was talking through.

“Oh you know, killing an entire army of Fallen, now working on finding answers to a murder suicide, the fun stuff.” Sarah’s voice was dripping in sarcasm. Alexander went on ahead a little only to find the tracks stopped suddenly. Tilting his head, he summoned forth his own Ghost to take a look around for more.

“Wait, what?” It was Cayde speaking now, “Did I just hear that right?”

“You did, and you definitely owe me that Whiskey after this. You can use your 20 glimmer towards that.”

“Cayde what did you do?” Zavala asked.

“Just made a convincing bargain.” Cayde answered. She could picture a shit eating grin on his face as he said that.

“Eugh, we’ll talk later. Sarah, please explain what’s happened.”

Alexander started to brush the snow away from where the tracks stopped, finding planks of wood beneath. It was grey with age, but as he brushed off more, it seemed to cover a hole.

“Well, long story short, we got there and there were way more Fallen than what was reported. We found one spy trying to kill us, he had a map to the nearby village where to place explosives, Alex over here wanted to go fighting and so we did. He’s good, he even got down a class finally, I think. Uh… that one where you bash a shield into someone’s face?”

“Sentinel.” Zavala informed her. Sarah could hear Cayde in the background saying something like ‘Woo! 40 more Glimmer!’

“Yeah, that. Then Gale casually turned the rest of them into a pile of ash with a big purple bomb. Remind me never to piss off a Warlock ever again.”

“Believe me, that is advice everyone should take for life.” Cayde added.

“And what about this, murder suicide?” Zavala asked. Alexander by then had cleaned off all of the snow. He had been trying to pry it off, but it was frozen to the ground. Giving a small huff, he stood up and tried to stomp a hole through it. No such luck.

“It was an accidental find. Alex tripped over the dead Ghost, Gale figured out it was shot by a bullet. We found the Guardian at the bottom off a cliff with a snapped neck. Alex and I are trying to figure out where this girl came from…”

She stopped midsentence when she heard the crack of wood and the high pitched long beep that was most likely Alexander screaming as he fell down the hole. She cringed a little when she heard the crash at the bottom and his ghost shout ‘Guardian Down!’

“What was that?” Zavala asked.

“I’m gonna have to call you back.” Sarah told them and rushed over to the hole. She looked down to see his Ghost finishing up his revival of his Guardian.

“Oi! You alright?” she asked. He nodded and gave a thumbs up. Sarah let out a small sigh and begun her own descent into the cave, being careful getting to the bottom. The ghosts let up the place, showing that someone had been living here. In the middle of the small den was a campfire, a beaten and battered sleeping bag in one corner, shelves for preserved food in another, tools scattered about, but most importantly a Journal.

“Someone’s been here a long time.” Sarah mumbled as she picked up the journal, “Smells like it too.”

As she opened the first page her body gave a small jolt. Alexander peered over her shoulder and could see why. The words ‘I killed him’ were written over and over. It continued on for two more pages before an entry, the only entry, told them everything they needed to know.

‘I can’t take it anymore.

To anyone that finds this, my name is Lilli Pastor. I killed an innocent civilian and have been living out here ever since, all on my own. I’ve been surviving out here for so many winters, so many deaths. My ghost won’t let me die. He tries to convince me that I should go and repent for what I’ve done. They’ll never forgive me. They’ll never take me back.

I’m going out. My hand shakes even considering this, but if I shoot my own Ghost, I’ll finally be able to die. I want to die. I need to die.

If someone finds this, I hope you’ll never make the same mistake.’

Alexander looked at his ghost, reaching up for him and giving him the equivalent of a hug. Sarah reached over to her ghost to do the same thing. Even though she considered throwing herself off of things, and had done it, she would’ve never considered killing her own Ghost. She wondered however if she would’ve gotten to that point eventually if Ash hadn’t stepped in. It was a scary thought.

“Alexander? Sarah?” they could hear Gale’s voice overhead. They two of them looked at each other, than let go of their ghosts.

“Coming! Stay right there!” Sarah shouted up. Alexander stood at the bottom offering Sarah a hand. He boosted her up so it was easier for her to get out, then followed suit. They found Gale just near the hole, her own ghost close by.

“What did you find?” she asked, tilting her head.

“A journal. That hunter was someone named Lilli Pastor. Killed a civilian then hung out here for a long time going bat shit crazy. You wouldn’t happen to have any clue about that?” Sarah asked.

“Lilli… Lilli…” Gale looked down for a moment, trying to think before lighting up with a realization, “Oh! Of course. Lilli’s Last Shot. She was a hunter notorious for shooting people in bars that made her angry. She shot a civilian one night thinking he was a Guardian and ran out. To think… this is where she had been the entire time…”

“Shit…” Sarah mumbled, “That’s just… fucked up. Really fucked up.”

Gale nodded in agreement, reaching into her pocket for the dead ghost and pulling it out, “We should head back now. We’ll need to send someone out for the body, but we can take the ghost back.”

The three of them nodded in agreement. Once they were back to the small clearing, Sarah added another mark to the tree, an arrow to show the direction of the body. Once done they walked the rest of the way back to their ships, and Sarah finally contacted Zavala again.

“Sarah? What happened?” Zavala immediately asked.

“Small accident, nothing a Ghost couldn’t fix.” She replied, “Is Cayde still there?”

“Still here, what’s up Sarah?” Cayde’s voice came over the comms.

“You remember a hunter named Lilli Pastor? Shot up a civilian and then ran off?”

“Yeah I remember that whole mess. Wait… don’t tell me that…” Cayde’s voice was suddenly lacking his usual cheer.

“We found her. She’s dead. Killed her own ghost then herself.”

“Son of a…” a pause before a long sigh, “Well, damn. Good on you guys for figuring it out though. See you back at HQ.”

“We’ll do a debrief in the morning. I think some celebration is in order for taking out the Fallen and doing well is in order.” Zavala added, trying to lighten up the mood a little.

“See you then.” Sarah told them, and the Vanguard went silent. “Well Alex, if you were trying to prove yourself today, you blew it right out of the water.”

“I told you that you could do it.” Gale finally spoke. Alexander could feel a bit of a smile on his face despite the grim truth they found.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if you guys want to go for another run, I’d happily come along.”

“Of course Sarah.”

The three of them loaded off, and took off for the short trip home.

* * * *

“So in short, the Fallen are trying to rally each other again, even in winter, and we now know the fate of one of our Guardians.”

It was the first time Alexander had been in the Tower control center, and the second time he had been before all three Vanguard. Sarah and Gale stood on either side of him, making the nervousness he felt a little more bearable. Ikora was now going over the report herself as she hadn’t been there to over look the mission.

“Oh my Traveler, YES. It’s like I didn’t spend the last 5 minutes explaining that.” Sarah rolled her eyes. Ikora looked at her sternly, but didn’t say anything.

“We’ll put this information to good use, and send another team to recover her body. In the mean time, Sarah, Gale, do you believe Alexander is ready for more missions?” Zavala asked, even though he sort of already knew the answer.

“Alex saved my head from being blown off, and fights well. He also might be a bit brighter than the average Titan, no offense, so I’d say he certainly would be.” Sarah was smiling as she said that, which in turn made Alexander a bit giddy. If Gale said yes, then he would be put on more missions. His ghost was also getting excited with him.

“Gale?” Ikora asked.

“He’s shown bravery and skill out there. He knows how to handle himself. Though I wouldn’t send him alone yet, he is capable of doing strikes and missions.” Gale said with a kind smile.

“I suppose that settles it. Alexander, from here on out you will be put into the active line of duty as a full fledged Guardian.”

Alexander couldn’t stop himself. He leaped up for joy, then wrapped an arm around both girls that helped him out there and pulled them close into a hug.

“Oi! Careful! You’re going to crack my ribs big guy!” Sarah shouted. He suddenly remembered he was in the presence of the Vanguard and let both of them go, regaining his composure. He then beeped out something to his Ghost, who translated for him.

“He said ‘Thank you commander. I couldn’t have done it without my fire team though.’”

Zavala smiled, “Indeed. It’s good you recognize that.”

“Like I always say, teamwork makes the dream work. Am I right? Right?” Cayde asked, getting no answer as usual, “I’m right.”

“Dismissed Guardians. Well done.” Zavala nodded to them, and the fireteam made their leave. Once outside, Alexander started to bounce up in down, excitement coursing through his entire body. Finally, he was on missions! Finally he could actually be making a difference out there!

“Easy big guy, you might shake the tower down.” Sarah told him as they walked down the hall towards the main area.

“Oh, let him have his fun Sarah. This is a big moment.” Gale chided.

“You know you still owe me for that robe you burned.” A voice sounded down the hall. When they turned the corner, they found Ash leaning up against the wall and Cid looking a bit miffed. Right, Sarah thought, still hadn’t paid him for the damage done.

“Cid!” Gale waved, grabbing his attention. Alexander looked up and started to beep rather happily, even though Cid couldn’t understand him. He was also talking too fast so his ghost couldn’t keep up.

“Whoa, slow down Alex.” His ghost told him, “I know you’re excited but even I can’t understand you.”

“I’ll take it that it went well Sarah?” Ash asked, standing up straight and putting a hand on her hip. She heard all about the mission the morning before they left after dragging Sarah out of bed.

“Lot better than I thought it would. Alexander here is now a full fledged Guardian.” Sarah announced. Alexander nodded his head eagerly.

“Really? That’s great Alex.” Cid said with a smile.

“I was thinking a small celebration is in order?” Gale asked, then paused when she heard something behind them. They all turned around to see a racing Titan speeding towards Alexander, and knocking the poor man over in a tackle hug. The four other cringed at the sound of metal hitting concrete.

“Uh, Red?” Alexander’s ghost asked, “Can you maybe not make a habit of doing that?”

“Sorry buddy!” Red got up and off of Alexander, offering a hand to help him stand, “I’m just glad you’re back! How’d it go?”

“Really well! We’re now an active duty Guardian!” Alexander took the hand and helped himself up. Everyone else looked at the other Titan with a puzzled look.

“Aw! That’s great buddy! Soon I’ll be an active one, and we can go on missions together!”

“Uh…” Alexander’s Ghost looked at his Guardian who shrugged, “Sure Red… whatever you say.”

The pieces were finally in place, the stage was set. The six that stood there, all walking towards the ramen shop, didn’t have a clue what would come in the following months. Alexander would go on more missions, getting stronger, better, and reached the point where he could run solo if he wanted to. He still wouldn’t remember who kept calling for him in his sleep, but now he had a job to do, protect the city no matter the cost.

As for Cid and Gale, he wouldn’t tell her about the Thorn. She would find out later what caused his hand to be rebuilt and the times where he was sombre. She would continue working with the children when she wasn’t running missions, but still always wondering about ‘sister’ when she had the time.

Sarah and Ash would continue to make trouble, but Ash began a search. In the archives she would dive into she would search for any sign of Sarah’s lost daughter to hopefully bring that chapter to a close. Sarah would see Annabelle Krane every now and then, trying to get better, but still mostly relied on the Whiskey.

As for Red, well… he just kept talking to those sweeper bots.

The board was set, the pieces in place. It was time for Dominus Ghaul to make his move.


	13. Distant Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These are just bonus chapter tbh

It was an odd sight to be certain. Cid normally wasn’t out here at this little spot. The small table for two that seemed to be reserved for rare or special occasions now had a small piece of cake on it with a little candle. Cid sat in one chair, and the other sat empty. When he told Gale to come here, she had to admit this was the last thing she expected.

“Something special about today?” she asked as she pulled up the seat beside him. He looked up a little as she sat down and placed her hands on her lap.

“That’s the thing, I’m not really sure. Every year on this day I feel… sentimental, nostalgic, like today was special for me in my past life.” Cid answered, before turning his gaze back to the sky.

“Something special? Like a birthday of family, or a good friend?”

“Yeah, something like that. I don’t remember much, but he was a good guy. One of those brotherly types, the one that messed with you a bit but meant well? I can’t remember his face for the life of me, but I remember his name.”

Gale lifted a brow, “And, what was his name Cid?”

“…James. Like I said I remember his name, but not much else. For some reason though every time this date comes around I remember the guy, even if just a little. Wish I could find out more about him, but you know how many people have a first name like that? Hard to find someone in the archives when you don’t have a last name.”

She smiled a little, “I guess it would be, but whoever this is, I’m sure he’d be happy to know someone remembers him.”

“Yeah,” Cid smiled, “I feel like he would.”

“Do you remember much else about him?”

“Hm… I remember general things but… well I do remember one thing he used to say.” Cid changed his tone to be sarcastic, “Cause yes, that makes sense, and bananas grow on apple trees, and I am perfect.”

Gale laughed a little, “He sounds like he was a good friend of yours.”

“Yeah… he was.”

Gale leaned over and blew out the candle, “Happy Birthday James, whoever you are.”

“Yeah, happy birthday buddy. Hope you’re having a good time in heaven, or wherever you went.”

“He could be a Guardian.”

“If he is, I hope I find him. I need to shake the guy’s hand.”

“And give him his cake.”

“That too, until then though it’s mine.”

“What? You’re not gonna share it?”

“Nope. Mine now.”

“You’re mean.”

“I bought it.”

“You invited me out here.”

“Still mine.”

“Meanie.”

At that point they were both looking at each other with a pouty look. They held it as long as they could before bursting out laughing. They didn’t even notice a small light looking on, content that someone did indeed remember.

And wishing he could eat that darn cake.


	14. Scanables

The Following are small tidbits about the 6 Guardians we’ve covered so far. Scattered about the Tower and the Walls their things lay, giving other ghosts a sight into the future heroes that would bring back the Light. Most of these are told as if Alexander is scanning them, but of course the ones about him are someone else scanning the item.

Location: Library Desk in a projector room.

“These are Cid’s Notes on the Inscription in the Sword he got from the Iron Lords. ‘Eyes up Guardian.’ Huh, to think that saying came from Lord Saladin himself. It must’ve been a huge honor to get that sword.”

Location: Small tea table overlooking the City

“This is a patient list for someone named Annabelle Krane. Opal-5, Luna Jenkins, Soul, Netri Dovalski, Tommy-33 and…. Sarah Navarra? Huh. There’s also a list of patients whom she needs to check in on. That’s weird, why is Cid’s name on here?”

Location: Desk near the windows of Library

“This is Gale’s research. She’s been rediscovering treatments for seizures. There’s also a note: Bring Charlie a teddy bear for the holidays. That’s probably one of her patients… how sweet.”

Location: Back of the Library near where the Cryptarchs keep record of populations

“Ok, this is weird. A hunter doing research? I’d never pin Ash as someone who would. Wait… no, this isn’t research. She was looking for something. Cilka Navarra? Navarra… where have we heard that last name before?”

Location: Small table in the bazaar

“More medical notes from Gale. This time it’s about Red and… brain damage? From several concussions in his previous life? Oh, well… that’s… really unfortunate.”

Location: Roof of a shop

“It looks like Ash’s research yielded some results. Get this: a letter to someone named Francine telling her about Cilka and… oh… this is Sarah’s daughter? Like, the Sarah we know? Here, I’ll read what it says:

Dear Francine

This child identified as Cilka Navarra will now be placed under your care in the Last City Orphanage. The mother died of blunt force trauma and hypothermia after jumping off a waterfall to escape the Fallen presumably. Those who found her say her mother’s name was Sarah and have asked that she’d be remembered as a hero who saved her child. For the last year apparently she had been teaching these people how to survive in the wild and been leading them. I’ll leave it up to you when you tell the kid, but I know I’d be proud to know my mother did something like that.

-Hans Cumberland

Wow… that’s a lot to take in.”

Location: Bazar near Banshee’s shop

“These are parts to help restore someone’s leg. You know, unless they salvage parts, no one can recreate an EXO body in the same condition as the Golden Age. Come to think of it, didn’t Cid’s right hand look weird? Did it get blown off beyond repair? Wonder how that happened?”

Location: Hangar, near where Cayde always is

“Looks like Sarah’s been here. Lately she’s been a bit less grumpy, which makes me think that she and Ash may be up to something, again.”

Location: Rafters above the hangars

“Firecrackers, flashbangs, lighters, matches… yep, Ash has been here alright.”

Location: Desk in the command center

“Looks like Ikora found something. A journal of sorts by someone named Jeanie Glassford. Glassford… huh? Anyways, it contains more medical research, which would be helpful. Let’s see, things on cancer, strokes, heart attacks and… oh… a letter of absence to mourn… Gale Glassford… they were family.”

Location: Bar at the end of the wall

“Gale and Cid are often in here. Wonder what they talk about those long nights? I’ll bet they know a lot of secrets and stories. Who knows, maybe they know the secrets of the universe… or get really drunk.”

Location: Table near the dorms

“This is a letter Ash found. It’s from Cilka to her mother. Here, I’ll read it.

Dear mommy

I don’t know who you are mommy. Francine says you were a Hero, saved people from monsters. She says you died because you were trying to save me. Why did you die mommy? Why did you go? I would have love to meet you Some of the other kids have mommies, and it sounds like a nice thing to have. I would like to show you my dolly and my kitty. I would like to show you the flowers I picked today. I think you would be a nice mommy.

Francine says you’re watching over me. Maybe we can talk someday then?

-Love, Cilka Navarra.

Oh, no… just when I thought this couldn’t get any sadder.”

Location: A hole in the wall near the Hangar

“Looks like Red was here. Judging from the carnage, he probably tried to headbutt something and went through the wall. Well, least we don’t get to clean up the mess.”

Location: A bench overlooking the City.

“Another note, written by Jeanie Glassford.

Ever since I’ve fled from London my head has been a jumble. My friends have told me to write things down, take a break from nursing, take time to mourn. The last two options aren’t really available, so option number one it is. All I know is this

1\. My sister is dead

2\. There has been nonstop wounded

3\. Too many of them are dying on us

4\. There’s now these weird people with undying superpowers?

They’ve been calling these people Risen, or Iron Lords, or Guardians, I’ve been hearing too many names. They’re the one holding the line in the Last City, the Traveler’s final gift. They’re our only hope apparently against these Fallen. I hope they drive those damned Fallen off soon, I can’t take much more of this.

But why couldn’t they have shown up in London? Why couldn’t they save Gale? I keep seeing her at night, always smiling as she’s facing certain death. My big sister, my best friend gave up her life so the rest of us could live. These guardians don’t die, why couldn’t they be there so Gale wouldn’t have to die?

It ends there. I wonder what happened to her. Does Gale know about this?

Location: Training Yard for Titans.

“The trainers noticed that Alexander, though knowing next to nothing about pretty much anything, had a knack for weapons, like he knew how to handle them. He also got the hang of making shields to protect people and other Titan abilities quickly. I wonder if something in his memory is there.”

Location: Bench nearby the dorms.

“This is a journal written by Alexander. Judging from the writings, he’s been trying to remember names. He finally stopped on Terra, and started to write the name a few times as if he was trying to be sure. What is he trying to remember? Who is Terra?”


End file.
